U  B 

333 


UC-NRLF 


*B  7^7  act 


Army  Anthropometry 

AND  Medical  Rejection 

Statistics 


By 

PRIED^RICK  I<.  HOFFMAN,  I,!,.  D. 

Third  Vice  President  and  Statistician  The  Prudential  Insurance  Company 

of  America,  Member  of  the  Committee  on  Anthropology  and 

Chairman  of  the  Sub-Committee  on  Race  in  Relation 

to  Disease  (CiviUan  Records)  of  the  National 

Research  Council,  etc. 


A  CONSOI^IDATION  OF  PAPERS 

read  before  the 

National  Academy  of  Science,  Philadelphia,  November  21, 

and  the  American  Statistical  Association 

Philadelphia,  December  28,  1917 

thoroughly  revised  and  brought  down  to  date 


1917 


ARMY  ANTHROPOMETRY 

AND   MEDICAL  REJECTION 
STATISTICS 


BY 

FREDERICK  L.  HOFFMAN,  LL.  D. 

Third  Vice  President  and  Statistician  The  Prudential  Insurance  Company 

of  America,  Member  of  the   Committee  on  Anthropology  and 

Chairman  of  the  Sub-Committee  on  Race  in  Relation 

to   Disease  (Civilian   Records)  of  the  National 

Research  Council,  etc. 


A  consolidation  of  papers  read  before  the 

National  Academy  of  Science,  Philadelphia,  November  21, 

and  the  American  Statistical  Association 

Philadelphia,  December  28,  1917 

thoroughly  revised  and  brought  down  to  date 


917 


1918 

PRUDENTIAL  PRESS 

NEWARK,  N.  J. 

U.  S.  A, 


TO 

THE  COMMITTEE  ON  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF 
THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL 


LIST  OF  SCIENTIFIC  PUBLICATIONS 

OF 

THE  PRUDENTIAL  INSURANCE  COMPANY  OF  AMERICA 
Available  on  Request 


By  the  Hon.  John  F.  Dryden: 

(i)  The  American  Type  of  Isthmian  Canal.  1906. 

(2)  Addresses  and  Papers  on  Life  Insurance  and  Other  Subjects,  1909. 

(J)  Uniform  Laws  and  Legislation  on  Life  Insurance,  1910. 

(4)  Industrial  Insurance,  Past  and  Present,  1912. 

By  Frederick  L.  Hoflfman: 

(6)  Rural  Health  and  Welfare,  1912. 

(7)  Exhibits  of  The  Prudential  Insurance  Company  of  America,  International  Con- 

gress of  Hygiene  and  Demography,  1912. 

i7a)  Seventy -five  Years  of  American  Economic  Progress,  1914. 

(*)  The  Significance  of  a  Declining  Death  Rate,  1914. 

(10)  Practical  Statistics  of  Public  Health  Nursing,  1914. 

(//)  Industrial  Accidents  in  Different  Occupations,  1914. 

(13)  American  Public  Health  Problems,  1915. 

(14)  The  Documentary  History  of  Insurance,  1915. 

(15)  The  Mortality  from  Cancer  Throughout  the  World,  1916. 

(16)  The  Sanitary  Progress  and  Vital  Statistics  of  Hawaii,  1916. 

(17)  A  Plea  and  a  Plan  for  the  Eradication  of  Malaria,  1917. 

(18)  Facts  and  Fallacies  of  Compulsory  Health  Insurance,  1917. 

(19)  Weekly  Index  Numbers  of  National  Health  and  Well-being,  1917. 

(20)  The  Mortality  from  Degenerative  Diseases,  1918. 

(21)  The  Malaria  Problem  in  Peace  and  War,  1918. 

(22)  The  Tuberculosis  Death  Rate  in  1917,  1918. 

(23)  TheTyphoidFever  Death  Rate  in  1917,  1918. 

(24)  Army  Anthropometry  and  Medical  Rejection  Statistics,  1918. 

By  Frederick  S.  Crum : 

(la)  A  Statistical  Study  of  Measles,  1913. 

(2a)  A  Statistical  Study  of  Whooping  Cough  ,1914. 

(3a)  Medical  Inspection  of  Schools — a  Factor  in  Disease-Control,  1915. 

(4a)  Anthropometric  Table;  Children  Aged  Six  to  Forty-eight  Months,  1916. 

(5a)  The  Mortality  from  Diseases  of  the  Lungs  in  American  Industry.  1916. 

CHARTS  (5^x83^  inches) 
/  Mortality  from  Cancer  (21  charts). 
II  Mortality  from  Tuberculosis  (21  charts). 
Ill  Mortality  from  Measles  (6  charts). 
IV  Mortality  from  Whooping  Cough  (4  charts). 

V  Mortality  from  Accidents  (24  charts). 
VI  Mortality  from  Typhoid  Fever  (1  chart). 
VII  Mortality  from  Infantile  Paralysis  (1  chart). 
VIII  MortaHty  from  Diphtheria  (5  charts). 
IX  Mortality  from  Malaria  (15  charts). 

X  Mortality  of  United  States  and  Germany  (3  charts). 
XI  Army  Anthropometry  (4  charts). 


CONTENTS 
Part  I 

GENERAL  ARMY  ANTHROPOMETRY 

Urgency  of  better  standards  of  physical  examinations 1 1 

The  examination  of  recruits  by  officers  of  the  line 13 

The  sphere  and  function  of  physical  anthropology 14 

Recommendations  of  the  Committee  on  Anthropology  of  the  Na- 
tional Research  Council 15 

The  need  for  a  national  anthropometric  survey 16 

Rules  for  the  preliminary  physical  examination 17 

Inadequacy  of  examinations  by  officers  of  the  line 18 

Obscure  evidences  of  physical  maturity .  19 

Stigmata  of  degeneracy 20 

Limitation  of  army  rejection  experience 21 

Recruiting  experience  under  voluntary  enlistments 22 

Inconclusive  statistics  of  physical  deterioration 23 

Conflict  of  medical  and  non-medical  considerations  in  recruiting 24 

A  decade  of  United  States  recruiting  statistics 26 

Important  changes  in  recruiting  standards 27 

Changes  recommended  by  the  Committee  on  Anthropology  of  the 

National  Research  Council 28 

Race  in  relation  to  normal  stature 29 

Statistical  and  mathematical  considerations  of  frequency  distribu- 
tion in  physical  proportions ^^ 

Standard  methods  of  anthropometric  measurements 33 

Stature  of  accepted  United  States  recruits  under  the  voluntary  sys- 
tem of  enlistment 35 

Race  in  relation  to  frequency  distribution  of  stature 38 

Race  in  relation  to  weight   39 

Race  in  relation  to  chest  measurements 41 

Standard  of  physical  proportions  adopted  May  18,  1917 46 

Analysis  of  foreign  recruiting  statistics 46 

Index  of  vital  resistance 47 

Limited  value  of  recruiting  data 48 

Race  in  relation  to  physical  proportions 49 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Prussia -50 

Stature  of  German  conscripts "51 

Inconclusive  army  rejection  data 52 

Rejection  data  of  the  German  army 53 

Geographical  variations  in  the  causes  of  rejections 55 

5 


415587 


CONTENTS— Continued 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Austro-Hungary 55 

Recruiting  statistics  of  France  57 

Variations  of  stature  of  European  armies 58 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Italy  59 

Medical  causes  of  rejection  in  the  Italian  Army 60 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Switzerland  61 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Scandinavian  countries  62 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Belgium  63 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Holland  63 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Russia  and  Finland 64 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Great  Britain  '...  64 

Recruiting  statistics  of  Japan  65 

Recruiting  statistics  of  the  United  States  66 

Comparative  causes  of  rejection  for  military  service 67 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  German   army   68 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  Austro-Hungarian  army 69 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  French  army 70 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  Swiss  army 71 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  Italian  army  72 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  Belgian  army  72 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  Dutch  army 73 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  Swedish  army 73 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  Norwegian  afmy  75 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  British  army 75 

Causes  of  rejection  in  the  United  States  army 76 

Causes  of  rejection — white  recruits  only 77 

Causes  of  rejection — colored  recruits  only 78 

Causes  of  rejection — native  and  foreign-born  recruits 78 

Causes  of  rejection — Filipino  and  Porto  Rican  recruits 79 

Part  II 

RECENT  UNITED  STATES  ARMY  MEDICAL  AND  REJECTION 
EXPERIENCE  DATA 

Discretionary  powers  in  physical  examinations 82 

Negative  evidence  of  physical  deterioration 83 

Important  changes  in  rules  and  regulations 84 

Examinations  by  officers  of  the  line 85 

Examinations  by  civil  medical  officers  of  local  boards 86 

Army  rejection  experience  in  Greater  New  York 88 

Effects  of  discretionary  powers  on  the  rejection  rate 89 

Misleading   conclusions    regarding  physical   rejections   under   the 
first  selective  draft 90 

6 


CONrnNTS— Continued 

Misleading  use  of  army  rejection  experience  under  the  voluntary 

system   91 

Comparative  rejection  statistics  of  life  insurance  experience 92 

Important  changes  in  the  rejection  rules  under  the  selective  draft..  93 
The  possible  saving  in  man-power  and  gain  in  military  efficiency 

under  the  new  regulations 95 

Results  of  the  army  rejection  experience  in  the  United  Kingdom... .  97 
Urgency  of  a  national  anthropometric  survey  and  new  physical 

standards  98 

New  standards  of  physical  examination 99 

The  age  period  of  military  service  in  time  of  war 102 

APPENDIX  A 

Examination  blank  tentatively  recommended  by  the  Committee  on 
'  Anthropology  of  the  National  Research  Council 104 

APPENDIX  B 

Anthropological  survey  recommended  by  The  Royal  Anthropological 
Institute  105 

APPENDIX  C 

Graduated  numbers  of  the  male  population  of  the  Continental 
United  States,  ages  18-49,  by  single  years  of  life  and  conjugal 
condition,  estimated  for  the  year  1918 112 

APPENDIX  D 

Two  letters  on  unnecessary  rejections  on  account  of  deficiency  in 
stature  (New  York  Sun) 113 

CHARTS 

Comparative  stature  of  conscripts  and  recruits 32 

Stature  of  United  States  recruits,  1906-1915 36 

Weight  of  United  States  recruits,  1906-1915 42 

Chest  measures  of  United  States  recruits,  1906-1915 44 


ARMY  ANTHROPOMETRY 

AND  MEDICAL  REJECTION 

STATISTICS 


PART  I 

GENERAL 
ARMY  ANTHROPOMETRY 

PART  II 

RECENT  UNITED  STATES  ARMY 

MEDICAL  AND  REJECTION 

EXPERIENCE  DATA 


PART  I 

GENERAL 
ARMY  ANTHROPOMETRY 

URGENCY  OF  BETTER  STANDARDS  OF  PHYSICAL 
EXAMINATIONS 
The  science  of  anthropometry  or  physical  anthropology  includes 
primarily  the  systematic  examination  and  precise  ascertainment  of  the 
physical  characteristics  of  the  human  body.  As  a  branch  of  anthro- 
pology, or  the  science  of  man  in  general,  anthropometry  concerns  itself 
with  the  measurable  aspects  and  proportions  of  the  human  body  and 
the  divergence  from  the  normal  averages  according  to  climate,  race, 
sex,  social  condition,  etc.  Physical  anthropology  has  a  literature  of  its 
own  and  a  vast  field  of  eminently  practical  and  increasing  application 
to  social,  industrial  and  military  requirements.  As  observed  by  Seaver, 
"A  determination  of  the  laws  of  physical  growth  for  the  human  animal 
has  done  more  to  correct  educational  methods  than  any  other  influence 
in  pedagogy."  Within  recent  years  the  physical  fitness  of  men,  women 
and  young  persons  for  highly  specialized  labor  functions  has  become 
clearly  recognized  by  the  industrial  physician  responsible  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  highest  degree  of  health  and  efficiency  in  the  operation 
of  industrial  plants.  The  term  "anthropometry"  was  coined  by  Quetelet, 
but  in  its  broader  significance  the  work  of  the  anthropometrician  and  the 
physical  examiner  represents  rather  the  field  of  physical  anthropology 
than  a  highly  specialized  branch  of  human  anatomy  and  the  practice  of 
medicine  as  a  healing  art.  Osteology  constitutes  the  major  portion  of 
the  basic  and  measurable  material  in  physical  anthropology,  chiefly,  of 
course,  the  skeleton,  the  size  and  relative  proportions  of  which  vary 
widely  according  to  age,  sex,  race,  etc.  *  The  correlation  of  skeletal 
proportions  to  the  physiological  and  pathological  characteristics  of  the 
human  body  has  not  as  yet  been  ascertained  to  the  degree  of  scientific 
exactitude  required  to  justify  definite  conclusions  on  many  questions  of 
serious  concern  to  both  the  physician  and  the  physical  anthropologist. 
A  successful  adaptation  of  the  human  machine  to  the  always  more  or 
less  highly  complex  requirements  of  modern  social  and  economic  life 


*  The  principal  works  on  general  anthropology  utilized  in  connection  with  this  investigation 
are  the  following:  Anthropology,  by  P.  Topinard,  translated  by  R.  T.  H.  Bartley,  London, 
1878;  Manual  of  Anthropometry,  by  C.  Roberts,  London,  1878;  The  Study  of  Man,  by  Alfred 
C.  Haddon,  New  York,  1898;  The  Races  of  "lEurope,  by  William  Z.  Ripley,  New  York,  1899; 
Skeletal  Remains  in  North  America,  by  Ales  Hrdlicka,  Washington,  1907;  The  Human  Spe- 
cies, by  Ludwig  Hopf,  London,  1909;  Pedagogical  Anthropology,  by  Maria  Montessori,  New 
York,   1913;   The  Races  of  Man,   by  J.   Deniker,   New   York    (n.   d.). 

11 


IS  plSyiiQiijly'  \ai  mMiftr.  b.f '  the  most  urgent  necesaity  in  military  service, 
in  which  the  stress  and  strain  upon  organic  functions  are  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  normal  degree  of  endurance  demanded  by  the  exigencies 
of  every-day  labor  and  life.  It  has  properly  been  observed  by 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Frank  R.  Keefer,  M.  D.,  an  authority  on  military 
hygiene  and  sanitation,  that  ''Not  every  man  is  suitable  for  a  soldier," 
and  "A  man  may  be  a  good  insurance  risk  and  yet  be  entirely  unfitted 
for  military  service."  His  conclusion,  however,  that  only  a  small 
percentage  are  qualified  is  not  in  exact  conformity  to  the  facts  of 
physical  anthropology  properly  applied  to  the  exceedingly  complex 
requirements  of  the  numerous  branches  of  the  military  service  which 
cannot  possibly  be  standardized  without  a  risk  of  substantial  and  even 
far-reaching  errors  in  the  selection  of  recruits  or  conscripts,  as  the  case 
may  be.  As  stated  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Keefer,  "The  number  of  men 
rejected  for  one  reason  or  another,  but  chiefly  on  account  of  physical 
deficiency,  greatly  exceeds  those  accepted,"  and  **only  one  in  three  or 
four  is  taken  by  officers  on  recruiting  duty  in  cities,  and  this  percentage 
is  still  further  reduced  by  a  rigid  medical  scrutiny  at  recruiting  depots 
to  which  provisionally  accepted  applicants  are  sent  prior  to  taking  the 
oath  of  enlistment."  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  discussion  to 
emphasize  with  the  required  brevity  certain  fundamental  considerations 
of  army  anthropometry  as  a  branch  of  the  army  medical  service 
demanding  decidedly  higher  average  technical  qualifications  on  the  part 
of  the  examiner  and  the  use  of  more  strictly  scientific  methods  and 
standards  of  measurement,  with  a  due  regard  to  the  racial  characteris- 
tics or  inherited  physical  race  traits  of  the  recruit  or  conscript  subject 
to  examination  and  the  risk  of  improper  acceptance  or  rejection  for 
military  service,  as  the  case  may  be.  The  observations  by  Keefer 
may  be  referred  to  as  evidence  to  sustain  this  conclusion,  for  his 
views  require  only  to  be  restated  to  emphasize  their  inherent  limita- 
tions when  applied  to  the  end  in  view  of  the  highest  attainable  ideal 
in  the  physical  and  medical  selection  of  men  for  duty  in  the  army  and 
navy  during  a  time  of  war.  He  remarks,  "The  physical  deficiencies 
which  cause  the  greatest  number  of  rejections  for  our  army  are  venereal 
diseases,  heart  abnormalities,  defective  vision  and  hearing,  foot 
deformities  and  poor  physique."  Now,  venereal  diseases,  of  course, 
are  pathological  impairments,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  they 
cause  physical  deterioration  or  incapacity  for  service  in  much  the 
same  manner  as  any  other  diseased  condition  of  the  body,  whether 
tuberculosis,  typhoid  fever,  etc.  To  confuse  venereal  diseases 
with  physical  deficiencies  of  the  body  is  as  serious  an  error  as  to  confuse 
organic  defects  of  the  lungs  or  heart  with  defects  of  lung  capacity  or 
heart  function  due  to  strictly  physical  and  ascertainable  causes. 

12 


THE  EXAMINATION  OF  RECRUITS  BY  OFFICERS 
OF  THE  LINE 

The  practice  which  prevailed  of  having  the  preliminary  examination 
of  recruits  for  voluntary  enlistment  made  by  officers  of  the  line  tempo- 
rarily assigned  to  recruiting  duty  cannot  be  defended  as  in  conformity 
to  the  strictly  scientific  requirements  of  physical  anthropology,  which  is 
as  yet  but  an  imperfectly  developed  branch  of  knowledge,  a  thorough 
understanding  of  which  would  prove  invaluable,  especially  in  the 
furtherance  of  the  aims  and  ideals  of  preventive  medicine.  What 
represents  normal  men  and  normal  proportions  of  bodily  development 
and  growth  is  neither  adequately  known  nor  adequately  taught  in  even 
the  best  medical  schools  of  the  present  day.  Many  of  the  most  useful 
contributions  to  the  scientific  study  of  physical  anthropology  have  been 
made  by  physicians,  but  the  fundamental  theory  of  anthropometry  was 
worked  out  by  Quetelet,  a  statistician  and  mathematician,  and  the 
largest  body  of  trustworthy  data  was  brought  together  by  an 
astronomer,  Mr.  B.  A.  Gould,  who  secured  approximately  trustworthy 
measurements  of  bodily  proportions  of  over  one  million  of  recruits 
during  the  Civil  War.  *  Physical  deficiencies  and  abnormalities  are 
obviously  matters  of  the  utmost  medical  significance  as  regards  appro- 
priate methods  of  treatment  and  cure,  or  of  rational  adaptation  to 
highly  specialized  needs.  It  would  therefore  seem  unnecessary  to  re-em- 
phasize the  suggestion  frequently  made  that  the  physical  measurements 
of  recruits  or  conscripts  should  be  made  by  qualified  physicians  and 
not  by  laymen,  least  of  all  by  officers  of  the  line  not  thoroughly  trained 
in  the  fundamental  principles  and  methods  of  physical  anthropology. 
From  this  point  of  view  serious  objection  must  be  raised  to  the  conclu- 
sion advanced  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Keefer  that  "While  it  is  not  to 
be  expected  that  line  officers  on  recruiting  duty  shall  be  able  to  detect 
obscure  affections  of  the  internal  organs,  there  are  many  grosser  defects 
which  are  readily  apparent  to  them.  Such  are:  Deformities,  skin 
eruptions,  pallor,  emaciation,  inebriety,  venereal  disease,  defective 
development  of  parts,  lice,  dirty  person,  rupture,  piles,  stiff  joints, 
varicose  veins,  flat  feet,  indecent  tattooing,  etc.  Furthermore,  internal 
disease  may  be  suspected  from  shortness  of  breath,  a  thumphig  heart, 
dimness  of  vision,  or  irregular  pulse  following  moderate  exertion."  It 
is  only  necessary  to  review  this  long  list  of  more  or  less  obscure 
physical  or  pathological  conditions  to  emphasize  the  practical  necessity 
that  they  shall  be  ascertained  and  passed  upon  as  to  their  relative 
significance  by  a  qualified  physician  and  not  by  an  officer  of  the  line, 

*  Investigations  in  the  military  and  anthropological  statistics  of  American  soldiers,  by 
Benjamin  Apthorp  Gould,  published  for  the  U.  S.  Sanitary  Commission,  Cambridge, >  River- 
side Press,  1869.  See  also  Medical  Statistics  of  the  Provost-Marshal  General's  Bureau,  com- 
piled under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  by  J.  H.  Baxter,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  Wash- 
ington, 1875,  2  vols.;  this  report  includes  an  elaborate  outline  of  the  plan  and  scope  of  the 
work,  the  instructions  to  recruiting  surgeons  issued  by  the  various  governments,  an  outline 
of  the  history  of  anthropometry,  a  review  of  the  tables  and  their  results,  a  series  of  charts 
and  maps,  and,  finally,  a  number  of  special  reports  of  boards  of  enrollment,  and  other 
documents. 

13 


however  competent  he  may  otherwise  be  for  military  duty.  The 
medical  significance  of  emaciation,  venereal  disease,  rupture  and  even 
flat  feet  is  by  no  means  "readily  apparent"  in  the  large  majority  of 
cases.  The  ascertainment  or  even  suspicion  of  shortness  of  breath, 
dimness  of  vision  or  an  irregularity  of  the  pulse  is  not  within  the 
province  of  the  judgment  of  the  average  layman,  however  conscien- 
tiously he  may  apply  himself  to  the  duty  of  physical  and  medical 
examination  assigned  to  him  as  a  matter  of  army  routine. 

,  THE  SPHERE  AND  FUNCTION  OF  PHYSICAL 
ANTHROPOLOGY 
In  the  words  of  Dr.  Ales  Hrdlicka,  in  charge  of  physical  anthro- 
pology at  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  ''Physical,  i.  e.,  anatomical, 
anthropology  is  one  of  the  main  branches  of  the  extensive  science  of 
mankind.  It  is  that  part  of  anthropology  in  which  are  studied  varia- 
tions in  the  human  body  and  all  its  parts,  and  particularly  the 
differences  of  such  variations  in  the  races,  tribes,  families,  and  other 
well-defined  groups  of  humanity.  Physical  anthropology  accumulates 
facts  concerning  these  variations  in  every  part  of  the  earth  and  seeks 
their  causes  and  significance.  On  the  basis  of  such  knowledge  and  with 
the  help  of  other  sciences  it  endeavors  to  trace  man's  evolution,  to 
show  his  biological  history,  as  well  as  the  processes  of  differentiation 
actually  going  on  in  him,  and  to  outline  the  tendencies  of  his  physical 
life  for  the  future."  The  inadequacy  of  our  existing  information  on 
so  important  a  branch  of  the  extensive  science  of  mankind  was  clearly 
brought  out  by  Dr.  Hrdlicka  in  an  exhibit  on  physical  anthropology 
contributed  to  the  Panama-California  Exposition  in  1915.  The  most 
important  scientific  result  of  this  exhibit  was  the  emphasis  placed  upon 
the  factor  of  individual  physical  variation,  which  comprises  the  differ- 
ences among  normal  full-blooded  representatives  of  one  race  or  group, 
a  difference  which  is  regional  as  well  as  local,  and  extends  from 
part  to  part  of  the  body,  being  relatively  limited  in  such  char- 
acteristics as  the  color  •  of  the  skin,  eye  or  hair,  but  al- 
most endless  in  the  details  of  physiognomy  and  the  various  pro- 
portions of  the  body.  The  inadequacy  of  the  existing  amount 
of  information  on  the  physical  anthropology  of  the  civiHzed  races 
is  so  much  the  more  deplorable  because  the  practical  application  of  the 
data  to  such  questions  as  the  normal  growth  of  children,  the  normal 
development  of  the  body  during  early  adolescence,  the  physical  adapta- 
tion of  workmen  to  highly  organized  industrial  functions,  and  last  but 
not  least  the  physical  requirements  for  military  service  depends  for 
its  best  solution  upon  the  ascertainment  and  perfection  of  normal 
bodily  averages,  which  at  present  are  wanting  in  scientific  conclusive- 
ness to  a  lamentable  degree.  *     If,  therefore,  the  measurements  which 

*  The  principal  references,  in  addition  to  those  previously  quoted  on  general  anthropology 
and  anthropometry,  are  the  following:  On  the  Stature  and  Bulk  of  Man  in  the  British  Isles, 

14 


are  being  made  and  the  physical  and  pathological  facts  which  are  being 
secured  are  deficient  in  the  required  degree  of  inherent  accuracy,  it  is 
self-evident  that  one  of  the  greatest  opportunities  for  securing  such 
information  will  be  lost,  if,  in  fact,  it  has  not  been  entirely  missed,  in 
connection  with  the  examination  of  the  manhood  of  the  nation,  at  ages 
21  to  31,  under  the  provisions  of  the  Selective  Draft. 

RECOMMENDATIONS  OF  THE  COMMITTEE  ON  ANTHRO- 
POLOGY OF  THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL 
The  value  of  the  opportunity  for  securing  such  information  was 
clearly  recognized  by  the  Committee  on  Anthropology  of  the  National 
Research  Council,  and  repeated  efforts  were  made  to  induce  the  army 
authorities  to  adopt  a  blank  for  examination  purposes  which  would  pro- 
vide for  all  time  a  trustworthy  return  of  the  physical  characteristics  of 
the  age  period  when  maturity  has  been  reached  and  when  the  resulting 
information  would  be  most  useful  for  practical,  medical  and  other 
purposes.  The  blank  suggested  to  the  authorities  is  appended  to  this 
discussion  (Appendix  A),  but  it  is  most  regrettable  that  it  should  not 
have  been  adopted.  The  measurements  which  have  been  made  or 
will  be  made  in  the  case  of  millions  of  men  will  therefore  be  almost 
useless  for  scientific  purposes  and,  there  are  reasons  for  believing, 
frequently  misleading  for  the  purposes  of  the  Selective  Draft  to  secure 
those  best  fitted  for  military  service  in  the  field.  The  new  data, 
therefore,  cannot  be  utilized  to  best  advantage  in  the  ultimate  work- 
ing out  of  trustworthy  standards  of  height,  weight  and  chest  expan- 
sion, which  are  the  three  essentials  insisted  upon  by  army  medical 
authorities.  Indifference  to  the  racial  antecedents  of  the  examined 
recruit  or  conscript,  or,  in  other  words,  the  race  or  country  of  birth  of 
the  parents  of  the  person  examined,  precludes  the  practical  utility  of 
the  new  information,  since,  as  presently  to  be  shown,  the  racial  factor, 
in  height  and  weight,  at  least,  is  invariably  of  paramount  importance. 

by  John  Beddoe,  B.  A.,  M.  D.,  &c.,  London,  1870;  Height,  Weight  and  Chest  Measurements 
of  Soldiers,  by  Dr.  H.  Busch,  Berlin,  1878;  The  Relation  between  Growth  and  Disease,  by 
H.  P.  Bowditch,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia,  1881;  Die  naturliche  Auslese  beim  Menschen,  by  Otto 
Ammon,  Jena,  1893;  The  Range  and  Significance  of  Variation  in  the  Human  Skeleton,  by 
Thomas  Dwight,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  Boston,  1894;  Anthropometry  and  Physical  Examination,  by 
Jay  W.  Seaver,  A,  M.,  M.  D.,  New  Haven,  Conn.,  1896;  Social  Anthropological  Studies,  by 
Dr.  W.  Pfitzner,  1899;  A  Graphic  Standard  Table  of  Heights  and  Weights,  by  Oscar  H. 
Rogers,  M,  D.,  1899;  Manual  of  Physical  Measurements,  by  Wm.  W.  Hastings,  Springfield, 
Mass.,  1902;  Essay  on  the  Stature  of  Man  at  Various  Epochs,  by  A.  Dastre,  from  the 
Smithsonian  Institution  Report  for  1904;  Overweight  and  tJnderweight  Statistically  Inves- 
tigated by  Means  of  a  Card  System,  by  S.  W.  Carruthers,  in  Proceedings  of  the  German 
Periodical  for  Insurance  Sciences,  1907;  Physical  Growth  and  School  Progress,  by  Bird 
Thomas  Baldwin,  Washington,  1914;  Physical  Anthropology  in  America,  by  Ales  Hrdlicka, 
Panama-California  Exposition  Edition,  Lancaster,  Pa.,  1914;  Socio-Anthropometry,  by  B.  L. 
Stevenson,  Ph.  D.,  Boston,  1916;  Communication  from  Mr.  Francis  Galton  on  International 
Anthropometry  to  Sir  Rawson  W.  Rawson,  President  of  the  International  Statistical  Insti- 
tute; Zur  Anthropometrie  der  Menschen  Messkunst,  by  Dr.  Engel,  Director,  Royal  Bureau 
of  Statistics  of  Prussia  (n.  d.) ;  Meddelelser  on  Danmarks  Antropologi  (Communications  on 
the  Anthropology  of  Denmark),  an  annual  report  issued  by  the  Danish  Anthropological  Com- 
mittee on  the  anthropological  survey  of  Denmark,  Copenhagen,  1910-12;  Military  Anthro- 
pology, by  Livi;  Criminal  Anthropology,  by  Lombroso;  General  Anthropology,  by  Enrico 
Morselli;  Anthropology  of  Sweden,  by  Retzius  and  Fuerst,   1902. 

15 


THE  NEED  FOR  A  NATIONAL  ANTHROPOMETRIC 

SURVEY 
General  averages  of  height,  weight  and  chest  expansion  for  a  hetero- 
geneous mass  of  men  are  as  useless  as  general  averages  of  wages, 
prices,  etc.,  which  are  inapplicable  as  a  rule  to  individual  cases.  The  in- 
vestigations by  Gould  during  the  Civil  War  constitute  for  this  reason  an 
extremely  valuable  basis  of  trustworthy  information  concerning  the 
physical  characteristics  of  American  manhood  with  a  due  regard  to 
race.  If  corresponding  information  could  have  been  obtained  in 
response  to  the  urgent  appeal  *  of  the  Committee  on  Anthropology  of 
the  National  Research  Council  and  other  interests  concerned  with  the 
practical  use  of  such  data,  there  would  have  been  secured  a  proper  basis 
for  comparison  of  the  past  with  the  present,  and  extremely  important 
questions  concerning  national  vitality,  physical  progress  or  deterioration, 
etc.,  would  have  been  brought  measurably  nearer  to  a  successful  conclu- 
sion than  is  now  likely  to  be  the  case  for  many  years  to  come.  The  ex- 
pense involved  would  have  been  slight,  the  additional  labor  would  have 
been  of  no  material  significance,  the  standard  instruments  required 
would  have  been  useful  for  the  future,  and  the  slight  amount  of  pre- 
liminary scientific  training  would  have  materially  increased  the  ability 
of  the  medical  examiner  charged  with  the  highly  responsible  duty  to  so 
measure  and  examine  the  recruit  or  the  conscript  that  no  injustice  would 
be  done  to  the  nation  or  to  himself  in  his  wrongful  acceptance  or  rejec- 
tion for  military  service.  The  practice  at  the  present  time  in  the  prelimi- 
nary examination  of  recruits  and  even  in  their  subsequent  examination 
by  medical  men  falls  often  far  short  of  the  required  high  standard  de- 
manded by  urgent  military  and  general  considerations.  The  extensive 
literature  of  the  subject  bears  intrinsic  evidence  of  superficial  consider- 
ation, with  the  one  important  exception  of  the  work  by  Sir  William  Ait- 
ken,  on  "The  Growth  of  the  Recruit  and  New  Soldier,  with  a  View  to  a 
Judicious  Selection  of  'Growing  Lads'  for  the  Army,  and  a  Regulated 
System  of  Training  for  the  Recruits,"  published  in  1887,  which  is  not 
critically  referred  to  by  a  single  American  authority  on  military  hygiene 
or  the  army  medical  service;  nor  is  reference  made  to  the  best  Amer- 
ican authorities  on  anthropometry,  particularly  ''Anthropometry  and 
Physical  Examination,"  by  Jay  W.  Seaver,  published  in  New  Haven, 
1896,  intended  for  practical  use  in  connection  with  physical  education 
and  physical  examination  of  college  students  or  men  of  that  period  of 
adolescence  which  just  precedes  early  manhood,  and  upon  whom  the 
heaviest  military  demands  are  naturally  made,  f 

*  The  report  had  been  reprinted  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Sciences,   Vol.   Ill,  August,    1917. 

t  Some  exceptionally  valuable  observations  on  growth  and  the  development  of  muscle 
power,  with  special  reference  to  physical  education  and  the  diseases  of  adolescence  are  con- 
tained in  a  brief  treatise  on  "The  Adolescent  Period,"  by  Louis  Starr,  M.  D.,  Philadelphia, 
1915.  See,  also,  "The  Problem  of  Age,  Growth  and  Death,"  by  Chas.  S.  Minot,  LL.  D.,  New 
York,    1908. 

16 


RULES  FOR  THE  PRELIMINARY  PHYSICAL 
EXAMINATION 
The  rules  governing  in  the  examination  of  recruits  have  been  revised 
from  time  to  time,  but  in  the  main  the  changes  until  very  recently 
have  been  of  relatively  slight  importance.  The  preliminary  physical 
examination  of  the  recruit  is  generally  by  a  line  officer,  who  is 
required  to  proceed  in  the  following  order : 

First,  test  the  applicant's  vision;  second,  test  his  hearing;  third,  strip  him  of 
all  clothing  and  inspect  his  general  physique  and  appearance;  fourth,  take  his 
height,  weight,  and  chest  measurements;  fifth,  require  him  to  perform  the 
exercises  prescribed  in  paragraphs  16  to  19,  inclusive,  of  these  rules;  sixth, 
make  a  special  examination  of  the  various  parts  of  the  body  in  the  order  and 
to  the  extent  prescribed  in  paragraphs  21  to  36,  inclusive,  of  these  rules.  The 
applicant  must  be  entirely  nude  during  the  whole  of  this  examination  after  he 
has  been  subjected  to  the  tests  of  vision  and  hearing. 

As  far  as  known,  the  examining  officer  of  the  line  is  not  required  to 
undergo  a  course  of  special  instruction  in  methods  of  physical  examina- 
tion, so  that  merely  accuracy  in  observation,  good  judgment  and  strict 
conformity  to  thoroughly  standardized  requirements  are  relied  upon  for 
satisfactory  results.  Considering  special  aspects  of  the  examination, 
it  must  be  apparent  that  in  many  cases  an  officer  of  the  line  may  be  far 
from  qualified  to  ascertain  accurately  the  visual  acuity  of  an  applicant 
for  military  service,  or  his  hearing  or  his  general  physical  proportions 
in  so  far  as  they  may  possibly  indicate  more  or  less  obscure  departures 
from  accepted  standards.  The  present  practice  is  a  survival  of  the 
earlier  methods  of  recruiting,  when  the  main  object  of  the  examination 
was  to  exclude  applicants  obviously  unsuitable,  often  on  moral  or 
intellectual  grounds.  Considering,  for  illustration,  such  a  delicate  pro- 
cedure as  chest  measurement,  it  is  required,  according  to  the  official 
instructions,  that 

The  applicant  will  be  made  to  stand  erect  with  his  heels  together  and  to  raise 
his  arms  over  his  head.  The  measuring  tape  will  be  carefully  adjusted  around 
the  chest  with  the  upper  edge  of  the  tape  just  below  the  lower  angles  of  the 
shoulder  blades  behind  and  the  nipples  in  front.  The  arms  of  the  applicant 
will  then  be  dropped  to  the  sides  and  he  will  be  directed  to  take  several  deep 
breaths  to  verify  the  maximum  and  minimum  measurements.  Care  must  be 
taken  not  to  displace  the  tape  and  to  avoid  muscular  contortions.  Many  men 
must  be  taught  how  to  breathe  and  to  expand  the  chest  before  the  measurements 
are  taken,  and  consequently  great  care  and  patience  are  often  necessary  in  order 
to  get  correct  results. 

This  is  merely  one  of  many  indications  that  the  functions  of  the 
examining  officer  of  the  line  conform  more  to  those  of  a  medical 
examiner,  whose  judgment  would  unquestionably  be  more  conclusive 
and  trustworthy  than  that  of  even  the  most  careful  and  painstaking 
non-medical  observer. 

17 


INADEQUACY  OF  EXAMINATIONS  BY  OFFICERS 
OF  THE  LINE 

This  conclusion  adverse  to  the  present  practice  of  preliminary 
examination  by  non-medical  officers  *  applies  with  special  force  to  the 
examination  of  special  parts,  such,  for  illustration,  as  the  examination 
of  the  skin  for  evidences  of  disease,  ulcers  and  eruptions,  extensive, 
deep  and  adherent  scars,  extensive  or  disfiguring  birthmarks,  hypo- 
dermic scars,  indicating  a  drug  habit,  etc.  With  reference  to  the 
examination  of  the  eyes,  the  attention  of  the  non-medical  examiner  is 
directed  to  possible  evidences  of  chronic  inflammations,  triangular  or 
fan-shaped  growths  on  eyeball  with  the  apex  encroaching  upon  the 
cornea,  marked  squint,  and  drooping  of  the  upper  Hd.  The  nose  is 
required  to  be  examined  for  dilated  vessels,  indicative  of  alcoholism, 
for  disfiguring  deformities,  for  offensive  discharges,  and  for  inability 
to  breathe  freely  through  the  nose  and  with  the  mouth  closed.  The 
neck  is  required  to  be  examined  for  goitre,  enlarged  or  suppurating 
glands  and  their  resulting  scars.  The  chest  is  required  to  be  examined 
for  malformations ;  the  abdomen  for  obesity,  dropsy,  ruptures,  and  with 
collateral  questions  regarding  a  possible  past  history  of  chronic 
dyspepsia  or  dysentery.  Rupture  is  made  a  subject  of  special  instruc- 
tions, and  the  applicant  is  directed  "to  stand  with  his  feet  apart  and  his 
arms  raised  above  his  head,  while  the  examiner  is  required  to  instruct 
him  to  cough,  the  examiner  placing  the  tip  of  his  forefinger  at  the 
point  of  suspected  rupture,  etc.  The  back  is  required  to  be  examined 
for  deformities  and  malformations;  the  groins  for  enlarged  glands; 
the  hands  and  arms  for  deformities,  old  fractures  and  dislocations, 
stiff  joints,  etc. ;  the  feet  for  flatfoot,  deformed  toes,  etc.,  and 
finally,  the  appHcant  is  required  to  stand  ''with  the  inner  borders  of  his 
feet  together,  arms  horizontal,  fingers  apart,  and  eyes  shut  to  submit 
to  an  inspection  for  tremors  and  instability  indicating  alcoholism  or 
nervous  disorders." 

It  is  not  made  entirely  clear  by  the  regulations  what  precise  method 
of  procedure  is  to  be  followed  by  the  non-medical  officer  in  the  final 
rejection  of  recruits.  There  is  apparently  a  distinction  drawn  be- 
tween applicants  for  enlistment  who  are  not  acceptable  to  the  recruit- 
ing officer  before  being  examined  physically  and  those  who  are  rejected 
by  him  subsequently  to  their  physical  examination,  more  or  less  in 
conformity  to  the  preceding  outline,  which  is  largely  based  upon  the 
revision  of  Tripler's  Manual  by  Major  and  Surgeon  Charles  R.  Green- 
leaf,  issued  in  1890.  The  Rules  for  the  Bxamination  of  Recruits  as 
issued  in  the  form  of  General  Orders  No.  66,  Washington,  April  18, 
1910,  and  re-issued  in  1916,  proceed  with  the  instructions  for  the  exam- 
ination from  the  non-medical  portion  as  made  by  the  line  officer  to  the 

■*  These  observations,  of  course,  have  reference  only  to  the  examination  of  recruits  under 
the  former  system  of  voluntary  enlistment  and  they  do  not  apply,  unless  otherwise  stated, 
to  the  examination  of  registrants  under  the   Selective  Draft. 

18 


medical  portion  as  made  by  the  medical  officer  without  an  explanation 
in  detail  as  to  the  limitations  of  the"  functions  of  the  former  and  the 
full  authority  of  the  latter,  especially  as  regards  a  review  of  evidence 
more  or  less  medical,  although  obtained  by  a  non-medical  officer  of  the 
line.  The  instructions  to  the  medical  officer  are  merely  amplified  in 
important  matters  of  detail,  but  in  a  general  way  conform  to  most  of 
the  essential  requirements  as  regards  the  non-medical  physical  examina- 
tion of  the  recruit  by  an  officer  of  the  line.  With  reference  to  the 
medical  examiner,  however,  it  is  suggested  that  use  be  made  of  "every 
possible  diagnostic  procedure  at  his  disposal,  including  the  use  of  the 
microscope,  the  X-ray,  and  other  laboratory  methods,  for  the  determina- 
tion of  doubtful  cases,  and  he  may  admit  such  cases  to  a  hospital  for 
study  and  observation  for  a  reasonable  period  in  order  that  a  definite 
conclusion  may  be  reached  with  regard  to  them." 

Diseases,  injuries,  malformations  and  other  physical  defects  dis- 
qualifying for  military  service  are  briefly  enumerated  as  follows : 

A  superficial  examination  of  many  applicants  determines  the  fact  of  their 
unfitness;  they  are  undersized,  underweight,  undeveloped,  sallow,  or  pale  and 
scrawny,  poorly  nourished,  with  thin,  flabby  muscles,  and  are  manifestly  lacking 
in  stamina  and  resistance  to  disease.  The  rejection  of  such  applicants  for  "poor 
physique"  is  not  sufficiently  exact,  and  the  medical  examiner  should  record  as 
the  disqualifying  cause  in  each  case  some  specific  pathological  condition,  if 
such  can  be  found,  or  "underweight,"  "deficient  chest  measurement,"  "deficient 
muscular  development,"  "deficient  nutrition,"  or  such  other  definite  disqualifying 
conditions  as  may  be  found  to  exist.  Obesity  is  a  cause  for  rejection  when  so 
marked  as  to  interfere  with  marching  or  other  military  duties. 

OBSCURE  EVIDENCES  OF  PHYSICAL  MATURITY 
The  indicated  physical  evidences  of  maturity  for  the  guidance  of 
medical  officers  are  quite  superficial  and  inconclusive.  It  has  been 
properly  pointed  out  by  Sir  William  Aitken  that  "All  the  parts  of  the 
organization  of  man  are  connected  or  correlated  together  so  that  with 
the  increase  or  decrease  of  the  whole  body,  or  any  particular  part  of 
it,  certain  organs  are  also  increased  or  diminished  or  modified;  and 
modifications  which  arise  during  the  earlier  stages  of  growth  tend  to 
cause  the  subsequent  development  of  the  whole  man."  A  much  more 
qualified  and  extended  review  of  this  important  aspect  of  the  medical 
examination  is  given  by  Munson  in  his  treatise  on  Military  Hygiene, 
in  part  as  follows : 

From  the  standpoint  of  developmental  anatomy  the  soldier  should  certainly  not 
be  enlisted  before  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  and  a  delay  of  an  additional 
twelve  months  would  not  be  undesirable.  At  eighteen  years  the  bones  are  not 
fully  formed  and  their  actual  growth  continues  until  the  twenty-fifth  year, 
osseous  development  preserving  a  distinct  and  definite  sequence.  The  epiphyses 
of  the  transverse  and  spinous  processes  of  the  vertebrae  hardly  commence  to 
ossify  before  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  it  is  not  until  after  twenty  years  that 
the  two  thin  circular  plates  form  on  the  bodies  of  the  vertebrae,  while  the 
whole  process  is  not  completed  until  the  thirtieth  year.  The  sacrum  commences 
to  consolidate  at  the  eighteenth  year  and  the  process  is  completed  from  the 

19 


twenty-fifth  to  the  thirtieth  year.  The  fourth  and  third  bones  of  the  sternum 
are  united  between  the  twentieth  and  twenty-fifth  years,  and  the  second  is  not 
united  to  the  third  bone  before  the  thirty-fifth  year.  The  epiphyses  of  the  ribs 
commence  to  grow  between  the  fifteenth  and  twentieth  and  are  not  completely 
joined  to  the  bone  until  the  twenty-fifth  year.  The  epiphyses  of  the  scapulae 
join  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  twenty-five;  while  the  epiphysis  of  the 
clavicle  begins  to  form  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  twenty  years.  The 
internal  condyle  of  the  humerus  unites  at  eighteen,  but  the  upper  epiphysis  does 
not  join  until  the  twentieth  year.  The  epiphyses  of  the  radius,  femur,  tibia  and 
fibula  are  all  unjoined  at  eighteen  years  and  are  not  completely  united  until  the 
twenty-fifth  year.  The  epiphyses  of  the  pelvic  bones  (crest  of  the  ilium  and 
tuberosity  of  ischium)  begin  to  form  at  puberty  and  are  completed  by  the  twenty- 
fifth  year.  The  greatest  growth  of  the  heart  takes  place  between  eighteen  and 
twenty-five  years  and  even  at  the  latter  age  has  not  attained  its  maximum. 
When  cardiac  development  is  deficient,  heart  failure  is  liable  to  occur  under 
unwonted  exercise  and  in  emergencies,  and  irritable  heart,  unfitting  for  military 
service,  is  thus  favored. 

These  observations  are,  broadly  speaking,  in  entire  conformity  to 
modern  teachings  of  anatomy  and  physiology  and  to  the  earlier  general 
conclusions  of  Aitken,  whose  descriptive  account  of  the  "progressively 
gradual  development  and  growth  of  the  recruit  and  the  young  soldier" 
continues  to  the  present  time  as  a  most  reliable  guide  to  the  examiner, 
whether  an  officer  of  the  line  or  a  thoroughly  qualified  officer  of  the 
medical  branch  of  the  army  service. 

STIGMATA  OF  DEGENERACY 

The  general  rules  for  the  examination  of  recruits  are  also  somewhat 
obscure  as  regards  the  precise  limitations  upon  the  judgment  which  is 
required  to  be  exercised  in  medical  matters  by  the  recruiting  officer  of 
the  line.  It  is  with  reference  to  mental  and  nervous  disorders,  for 
illustration,  that  the  rules  read :  "The  recruiting  officer  should  use 
every  effort  to  exclude  the  mentally  defective  and  those  showing 
evidence  of  serious  nervous  disorders."  It  is  assumed  that  the  term 
"recruiting  officer"  has  reference  either  to  the  line  officer  only  or  to 
the  line  officer  and  the  medical  officer  as  well.  A  list  of  the  principal 
stigmata  of  degeneracy  is  given;  but  obviously,  as  made  clear  by  the 
following  extract,  it  would  be  quite  out  of  the  question  for  any  one  not 
thoroughly  versed  in  anatomy  or  physiology  to  accurately  ascertain  and 
adjudicate  the  significance  of  these  so-called  "stigmata  of  degeneracy," 
the  importance  of  which  has  been  denied  by  so  high  an  authority  as 
Goring  in  his  report  on  the  Anthropometric  Measurements  of  English 
Convicts.  *  The  stigmata  of  degeneracy  enumerated  in  the  Rules  for 
the  Examination  of  Recruits  are  as  follows: 

Anatomical  stigmata:  Cranial  abnormalities  in  outline,  capacity,  or  dimen- 
sions; excessive  development  of  the  occipital  protuberance  and  ridges,  the 
frontal  eminences,  and  the  mastoid  processes;  reduction  of  the  facial  angle; 
asymmetrical    facial    development;    lower    jaw    disproportionately    large    and 

*  Of  special  value  is  the  schedule  of  measurements  and  general  anthropological  data  on 
the  English  Convict,  issued  as  a  supplement  to  the  report  by  Chas.  Goring,  M.  D.,  lyOndon, 
1913. 


prognathic;  hard  palate  sharply  vaulted;  dental  arches  narrowed  or  angular; 
teeth  defective  or  misplaced;  ears  disproportionate  in  size  or  malformed; 
extremely  refractive  anomalies  and  strabismus;  deviation  of  the  nose;  septal 
deformities;  harelip;  cleft  palate;  remnants  of  branchial  clefts;  spina  bifida; 
sacral  growths  of  hair;  deep  sternal  furrows  and  concavities;  disproportion 
between  thorax  and  abdomen ;  upper  and  lower  limbs  disproportioned  to  each 
other  or  to  the  trunk;  abnormality  in  size  of  hands  or  feet;  tendency  to  left  sided 
overdevelopment;  deformities  of  the  fingers;  syndactyly;  excessive  length  or 
shortness  of  the  fingers;  undersize  of  the  ring  and  little  fingers;  genitalia 
undeveloped;  hypospadias;  epispadias;  scrotal  fissure;  albinism;  melanism; 
multiple  naevi;  defective  development  of  hair  and  nails. 

With  reference  to  these  alleged  stigmata  of  degeneracy  a  supple- 
mental ruling  reads  that  "The  degenerate  physique  as  a  whole  is  often 
marked  by  diminished  stature  and  inferior  vigor;  males  may  present 
the  general  body  conformation  of  the  opposite  sex,  with  sloping,  narrow 
shoulders,  broad  hips,  excessive  pectoral  and  pubic  adipose  deposits, 
with  lack  of  masculine  hirsute  and  muscular  marking."  In  addition 
thereto,  functional  stigmata  are  defined  as  "defective  mental  qualities ; 
moral  delinquencies,  such  as  wilfulness,  deceitfulness,  indecency,  stam- 
mering," etc.,  but  it  is  properly  said  with  reference  to  the  practice  of 
estimating  the  value  of  the  various  marks  of  degeneracy  that  "the 
occurrence  of  a  very  few  in  any  individual  case  would  not  justify 
classification  of  the  case  as  that  of  a  defective."  The  notable  work 
of  Goring  clearly  brings  out  the  danger  of  blind  reliance  upon  so-called 
physical  stigmata  of  degeneracy,  criminality  or  perversion.  Referring 
to  the  prevailing  notion  that  "every  individual  criminal  is  an  anomaly 
among  mankind  by  inheritance  and  can  be  detected  by  his  physical 
malformations  and  mental  eccentricities,"  Goring  concludes  that  "this 
anthropological  monster  has  no  existence  in  fact,"  and,  furthermore,- 
that  the  "physical  and  mental  constitution  of  both  criminal  and  law- 
abiding  persons  of  the  same  age,  stature,  class  and  inteUigence  are 
identical."  Inferior  physique  and  defective  intelligence  unquestionably 
differentiate  the  criminal  from  the  average  normal  population;  but 
such  "stigmata  of  degeneracy"  as  are  referred  to  in  the  Rules  for  the 
Examination  of  Recruits  are  of  very  doubtful  validity,  especially  when 
practically  applied  by  those  not  thoroughly  trained  in  psycopathy, 
which,  as  a  rule,  may  safely  be  assumed  not  to  be  the  case.  There  is 
therefore  the  serious  danger  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  thorough- 
ly eligible  recruits  may  be  rejected  as  unfit  for  military  service  for 
reasons  which  cannot  possibly  have  any  practical  relation  whatsoever 
to  military  efificiency. 

LIMITATION  OF  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE  " 

The  rejection  statistics  of  the  United  States  Army  are  quite  difficult 
of  correct  interpretation.  The  term  rejection  in  army  recruiting  has 
apparently  quite  a  different  significance  from  what  it  has  in  life  insur- 
ance practice  or  in  the  physical  examination  of  applicants  for  official 

21 


or  private  employment.  A  preliminary  process  of  selection  seems  to 
prevail,  the  results  of  which  are  not  included  in  the  final  sta- 
tistics of  recruiting  as  issued  by  the  authority  of  the  Surgeon 
General  of  the  Army.  Seriously  erroneous  conclusions  are  un- 
avoidable unless  the  terminology  in  use  is  more  precisely  de- 
fined. According  to  the  Army  and  Navy  Journal,  of  January 
10,  1914,  for  illustration,  the  total  number  of  applicants  for  enlistment 
in  the  Army  during  1913  in  the  Eastern,  Middle,  Southern  and  Western 
sections  of  the  United  States  was  as  follows :  In  Chicago,  11,920  appli- 
cants for  enlistment,  with  9,342  rejections,  or  78.4  per  cent. ;  in  New 
York,  17,055  applicants  for  enlistment,  with  13,758  rejections,  or  80.6 
per  cent. ;  in  Savannah,  New  Orleans  and  Little  Rock,  3,855  applicants 
for  enlistment,  with  3,011  rejections,  or  78.1  per  cent. ;  in  San  Francisco, 
5,504  applicants  for  enlistment,  with  4,443  rejections,  or  80.7  per  cent. 
The  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  under  date  of  Jan- 
uary 31,  1914,  in  commenting  upon  these  data,  remarks  that  "It  will  be 
seen  from  these  figures  that  the  percentage  of  rejections  was  about  the 
same  in  New  York  and  San  Francisco,  and  that  the  percentage  for  the 
Southern  section  and  the  Middle  West  as  represented  by  Chicago  was 
lower  than  either  the  East  or  the  West,  with  a  small  fraction  in  favor 
of  the  more  northerly  section.  The  better  showing  of  the  Middle  West 
was  rather  to  be  expected,  though  the  margin  is  quite  small;  but  the 
surprising  thing  about  all  these  figures  is  the  large  percentage  of  rejec- 
tions in  all  sections  of  the  country.  It  does  not  argue  well  for  the 
physique  and  the  stamina  of  our  young  men,  or  perhaps  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  supposition  that  the  best  do  not  offer  themselves 
for  enlistment.  It  is  said,  in  England,  that  the  physique  of  the  average 
recruit  is  deteriorating,  but  in  a  comparatively  new  country,  like  the 
United  States,  the  descendants  of  hardy  pioneer  stock,  reared  amid 
abundance  and  under  favorable  health  and  climatic  conditions,  should 
make  a  much  better  showing."  The  question  therefore  arises  as  to 
whether  the  preceding  rejection  data  have  the  significance  attached  to 
them  or  whether  they  may  not  be,  as  they  probably  are,  seriously  mis- 
leading. The  rejection  ratio  in  all  probability  merely  represented  the 
results  of  a  preliminary  process  of  selection  without  specific  or  qualified 
reference  to  the  supreme  question  of  physical  stamina  and  disease  as 
well  as  fatigue  resistance. 

RECRUITING  EXPERIENCE  UNDER  VOLUNTARY 
ENLISTMENTS 
During  the  period  1913-15  in  the  recruiting  districts  of  the  United 
States  Army  there  were  thus  examined  461,033  applicants  for  military 
service,  of  whom  349,975,  or  75.9  per  cent.,  were  declined,  while  111,058, 
or  24.1  per  cent.,  were  provisionally  accepted.  Of  the  111,058  it  appears 
only  92,667  were  subsequently  medically  examined  at  recruiting  depots, 

22 


and  of  this  number  13,884,  or  15  per  cent.,  were  finally  rejected  and 
78,7S3,  or  85  per  cent.,  were  finally  accepted.  At  depot  posts  9,110 
applicants  were  medically  examined,  and  of  this  number  800,  or  8.8 
per  cent.,  were  rejected,  while  8,310,  or  91.2  per  cent.,  were  finally 
accepted.  In  addition  thereto,  at  other  military  posts  or  in  the  field, 
26,422  applicants  were  examined,  and  of  this  number  669,  or  2.5  per 
cent,  were  rejected,  and  25,753,  or  97.5  per  cent.,  were  finally  accepted. 
The  initial  rejection  of  75.9  per  cent,  of  the  applicants  for  military 
service  in  the  United  States  Army  by  non-medical  officers  of  the  line  can 
therefore  not  be  construed  as  evidence  of  deficiency  in  physical  stamina 
or  lack  of  resistance  to  disease  or  fatigue.  Many  applicants  were 
declined,  in  all  probability,  for  defects  or  deficiencies,  physical,  men- 
tal or  moral,  each  without  a  very  decided  bearing  upon  the  question 
of  physical  strength  and  power  of  endurance.  All  army  experience 
under  a  voluntary  system  proves  conclusively  that  a  large  number  of 
young  men  apply  who  obviously  are  not  required  as  long  as  the 
authorized  military  strength  can  be  easily  maintained  by  means  of  the 
most  careful  medical  selection,  as  a  guarantee  that  only  the  best  fitted 
will  be  secured.  The  applicants  for  voluntary  military  service  in  the 
recruiting  districts  are  generally  without  any  previous  military  expe- 
rience or  training  whatever,  the  applicants  examined  at  depot  posts  and 
other  military  posts  are  chiefly,  if  not  exclusively,  those  who  have  had 
previous  military  training;  those,  in  other  words,  who  represent  a 
class  eligible  for  re-enlistment.  When  the  latter  two  groups  are 
combined,  it  appears  that  of  35,532  such  applicants  examined  only  1,469, 
or  4.1  per  cent.,  were  rejected,  while  34,063,  or  95.9  per  cent.,  were 
accepted. 

INCONCLUSIVE  STATISTICS  OF  PHYSICAL 
DETERIORATION 

The  foregoing  observations  emphasize  the  urgency  of  extreme  care 
in  the  use  of  army  recruiting  data  for  other  than  military  purposes. 
The  misuse  of  such  data  is  of  common  occurrence,  regardless  of  the 
intimations  in  practically  all  the  text  books  or  discussions  on  recruiting 
that  the  experience  is  governed  by  military  considerations  and  has  no 
very  definite,  if  any,  relation  to  possible  changes  in  the  physique  or 
bodily  proportions  of  the  population  considered.  Among  other  conspic- 
uous illustrations  of  the  misuse  of  the  comparative  method,  appropriate 
reference  may  here  be  made  to  the  statement  of  a  well-known  actuary 
before  the  House  Committee  on  Labor  with  regard  to  the  eflfects  of 
social  insurance  in  Germany  on  the  physique  of  the  German  adult  popu- 
lation. The  argument  was  advanced  that,  according  to  military  sta- 
tistics, in  consequence  of  compulsory  social  insurance  there  had  been  a 
very  substantial  improvement  in  the  height  and  weight  of  those 
conscripted  for  military  service.     The  foremost  German  authority  on 

23 


the  subject  in  commenting  upon  the  German  recruiting  statistics  his- 
torically reviewed  for  a  long  period  of  years  observes  more  than  once 
that  the  changes  in  the  bodily  proportions,  chiefly  as  regards  height  and 
the  ratio  of  rejection,  must  not  be  accepted  as  evidence  of  material  phys- 
ical alterations,  but  rather  as  being  governed  primarily,  if  not  exclusive- 
ly, by  changes  in  standards  of  selection.  In  contrast,  a  well-known  Pres- 
byterian minister  in  an  address  delivered  on  the  occasion  of  the  first 
Congress  on  Race  Betterment  advanced  the  conclusion  that  the  British 
recruiting  statistics  for  a  hundred  years  indicated  a  very  considerable 
diminution  in  stature  and  presented  otherwise  evidence  of  physical 
deterioration.  The  statement  was  in  conflict  with  the  evidence  collected 
by  the  Inter-Departmental  Committee  on  Physical  Deterioration,  which 
drew  attention  to  the  opinion  of  Prof.  Cunningham  that  "perhaps 
the  most  unreliable  evidence  is  that  which  is  obtained  from  the  recruit- 
ing statistics,"  for,  it  is  explained : 

The  class  from  which  the  recruits  are  derived  varies  from  time  to  time  with 
the  conditions  of  the  labor  market.  When  trade  is  good  and  employment 
plentiful  it  is  only  from  the  lowest  stratum  of  the  people  that  the  Army  receives 
its  supply  of  men :  when,  on  the  other  hand,  trade  is  bad,  a  better  class  of 
recruits  is  available.  Consequently  the  records  of  the  recruiting  department  of 
the  Army  do  not  deal  with  a  homogeneous  sample  of  the  people  taken  from  one 
distinct  class. 

To  much  the  same  effect  was  the  evidence  of  the  Director  General  of 
the  Army  Medical  Service,  Sir  W.  Taylor,  who,  according  to  the 
report,  "most  emphatically  disclaimed  any  responsibility  for  the  deduc- 
tions that  had  been  drawn  from  the  figures  published  by  his  depart- 
ment," and  who  "appeared  to  attach  very  little  value  to  the  figures," 
and  in  reply  to  a  question  calling  attention  to  a  passage  in  the  Report 
of  the  Inspector  General  of  Recruiting,  where  that  officer  speaks  of  the 
gradual  deterioration  of  the  physique  of  the  classes  from  which  recruits 
are  principally  taken,  he  said,  "He  is  not  justified  in  that.  We  have  no 
data  on  which  to  form  that  opinion."  Unless,  therefore,  the  strictly 
military  nature  of  recruiting  statistics  is  kept  in  mind,  erroneous  conclu- 
sions are  practically  unavoidable,  for  a  full  understanding  of  such 
statistics  requires  an  exhaustive  study  of  army  rules  and  regulations 
extending  over  a  long  period  of  years,  and  a  reasonably  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  exceptions  granted  in  conformity  to  the  special 
authority  vested  in  the  Adjutant  General. 

CONFLICT  OF  MEDICAL  AND  NON-MEDICAL  CONSIDERA- 
TIONS IN  RECRUITING 
It  may  also  be  pointed  out  that  while  non-medical  officers  of  the  line 
employed  in  connection  with  the  examination  of  recruits  are  not 
expected  to  express  a  medical  judgment  on  such  defects  as  errors  of 
refraction  of  the  eye,  valvular  lesions  of  the  heart,  tuberculosis  of  the 
lungs,  Bright's  disease,  or  other  obscure  internal  affections,  they  are 

24 


specifically  reminded  in  the  book  of  Rules  for  the  Examination  of 
Recruits  that  these  affections  usually  give  rise  to  signs  such  as  defec- 
tive vision,  shortness  of  breath,  emaciation,  and  tumultuous  beating 
of  the  heart,  which  the  recruiting  officer  should  detect  and  which  are 
causes  of  rejection.  In  proportion,  therefore,  as  non-medical  officers 
are  governed  by  semi-medical  instructions  and  are  desirous  of  avoiding 
possible  defects  disclosed  by  a  subsequent  medical  examination,  the 
ratio  of  primary  rejections  must  vary  considerably. 

In  this  connection  the  observations  of  Dr.  Edward  L.  Munson  *  are 
of  interest.     He  remarks  that: 

Of  the  applicants  for  enlistment  a  considerable  proportion  are  summarily 
rejected  by  recruiting  officers,  prior  to  any  physical  examination,  by  reason  of 
intoxication,  obvious  defect  of  body  or  mind,  or  on  account  of  apparently 
undesirable  personality.  Such  rejections  are  not  made  a  matter  of  official 
record.  Of  those  admitted  to  the  physical  examination  only  about  one  in  four 
has  been  found  in  times  past  to  be  qualified  for  the  military  service. 

He  also  directs  attention  to  the  fact  that  during  the  period  1889-93 
the  total  number  of  applicants  physically  examined  was  101,432,  and 
that  of  this  number  85,136,  or  83.9  per  cent,  were  rejected.  In  explana- 
tion of  the  excessively  high  ratio  of  rejections  he  observes  that  during 
more  recent  years  "the  physical  attributes  of  the  classes  from  which  the 
recruits  were  derived  appear  to  have  undergone  a  steady  improvement." 
And  referring  to  the  year  1897  he  states  that  the  ratio  accepted  was 
70.2  per  cent.,  or  differentiating  the  two  races  the  ratio  of  accepted 
recruits  was  78.7  per  cent,  for  the  whites  and  69.5  per  cent,  for  the 
colored. 

The  foregoing  observations  indicate  that  for  practical  purposes  the 
rejection  of  recruits  on  primary  examination  by  non-medical  officers  of 
the  line  is  quite  inconclusive,  the  rejections  being  interdependent  with 
the  technical  qualifications  of  the  examiner  and  his  predilection  for 
special  indications  of  deficiency  or  unsuitability  for  military  service,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  specific  rules  and  regulations  as  well  as  the 
authorized  strength  of  the  army,  on  the  other.  Munson  quotes  Marshall 
as  authority  for  a  grouping  of  the  causes  on  account  of  which  recruits 
are  rejected,  as  follows: 

1st.  Diseases  or  deformities  which  a  medical  man  from  his  professional 
training  and  acquaintance  with  the  duties  of  the  soldier  considers  are  infirmities 
which  disqualify  men  for  service  in  the  army. 

2nd.  Slight  blemishes  which  do  not  disqualify  a  man  for  the  army  but  which 
an  unwilling  soldier  may  exaggerate,  and  allege  that  he  is  thereby  rendered  unfit 
for  military  duty. 

3rd.  Unimportant  details  or  deviations  from  symmetry,  or  slight  variations 
from  the  usual  form  or  condition  of  the  body — technical  or  nominal  blemishes 
which  do  not  incapacitate  a  man  for  the  army  or  in  the  slightest  degree  impair 
his  efficiency. 


*  "The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Military   Hygiene,"  by  E.   L.   Munson,  New  York,   1901, 
page  30. 

25 


Munson  also  refers  to  Greenleaf  as  authority  for  the  statement  that : 

Experienced  surgeons  will  reject  all  recruits  whose  defects  fall  under  the 
first  two  headings  from  a  conviction  that  they  render  the  men  unfit  or  unde- 
sirable for  the  army;  but  those  under  the  third  head  are  frequently  rejected 
from  fear  of  responsibility,  a  dread  of  official  correspondence  and  to  an  ultimate 
damage  of  professional  character. 

It  is  therefore  self-evident  that  the  rules  and  regulations  which 
govern  in  the  examination  of  recruits,  whether  non-medical  or  medical 
in  a  time  of  peace,  and  chiefly  with  reference  to  voluntary  enHstment, 
yield  results  of  very  limited  scientific  value.  In  a  time  of  war,  accord- 
ing to  Munson,  those  coming  under  the  first  of  the  three  preceding 
groups  should  be  excluded,  while  those  coming  under  the  second  and 
the  third  should  be  as  rigidly  held  in  the  service.  In  other  words, 
widely  different  points  of  view  prevail  in  the  selection  of  recruits  for 
military  service  during  times  of  peace  and  during  times  of  war,  and  un- 
less this  fact  is  kept  carefully  in  mind,  the  statistics  extending  over  a 
long  period  of  years  are  most  likely  to  be  seriously  misleading. 

A  DECADE  OF  UNITED  STATES  RECRUITING 
STATISTICS 
Limiting  the  observations  for  the  time  being  to  medically  examined 
applicants  for  military  service,  subjected  to  a  previous  process  of 
elimination  by  non-medical  officers  of  the  line,  the  table  following  is 
of  interest  as  illustrating  the  changes  in  the  rejection  rate  during  the 
last  decade,  for  which  the  information  is  available  in  detail : 

RECRUITING  EXPERIENCE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ARMY 

(White  and  Colored) 

1906-1915 


Year 

Examined 

Rejected 

Rate  per  1000 

1906 

25,022 

5,625 

224.8 

1907 

33,864 

3,110 

91.8 

1908 

54,885 

7,434 

135.5 

1909 

23,520 

3,356 

142.7 

1910 

25,133 

2,378 

94.6 

1911 

50,534 

4,576 

90.6 

1912 

32,738 

3,960 

121.0 

1913 

36,822 

4,952 

134.5 

1914 

57,244 

6,102 

106.7 

1915 

37,993 

4,781 

125.8 

1906-1910 

162,424 

21,903 

134.8 

1911-1915 

215,331 

24,371 

113.2 

According  to  this  table  the  maximum  rejection  rate  occurred  in  1906 
or  22.5  per  cent.,  and  the  minimum  in  1911,  or  9.1  per  cent.  Without 
an  analysis  in  full  detail  of  the  individual  causes  of  rejection  a  final  con- 
clusion, of  course,  would  not  be  justified,  even  as  to  the  most  general 


26 


reason  underlying  this  wide  variation  in  the  non-eligibility  of  applicants 
for  military  service  during  a  period  of  peace.* 

The  army  rejection  rate  is  governed  not  only  by  physical  and  medical 
considerations  but  also  by  the  numerical  requirements  of  the  service, 
primarily  the  permissible  maximum  of  enlisted  strength.  The 
preceding  table  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  the  very  limited 
value  of  recruiting  statistics  in  efforts  to  prove  that  there  has  been 
physical  progress  or  deterioration,  as  the  case  may  be.  For  such  a 
profound  range  in  the  rejection  rate  as  is  here  indicated  could  not,  of 
course,  have  any  definite  relation  whatever  to  the  actual  physical  con- 
ditions of  the  population  concerned. 

In  amplification  of  the  preceding  table  for  both  the  white  and  the 
colored  troops,  combined,  the  following  table  is  included,  exhibiting  the 
results  separately  for  the  two  races : 

RECRUITING  EXPERIENCE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ARMY 
(White  and  Colored) 


WHITE 

1906-1915 

COT  ORFD— 

Year 

Examined 

Rejected 

Rate 
per  1000 

Examined 

V.-- V^  i_/ Vy  XV 1^  A-' 

Rejected 

Rate 
per  1000 

1906 

*24,259 

5,484 

226.1 

763 

141 

184.8 

1907 

32,199 

2,948 

91.6 

1,665 

161 

97.3 

1908 

52,740 

7,218 

136.9 

2,145 

216 

100.7 

1909 

22,613 

3,243 

143.4 

907 

113 

124.6 

1910 

23,788 

2,295 

96.5 

1,345 

83 

61.7 

1911 

47,980 

4,382 

91.3 

2,554 

194 

76.0 

1912 

30,374 

3,680 

121.2 

2,364 

280 

118.4 

1913 

33,828 

4,594 

135.8 

2,994 

358 

119.6 

1914 

53,970 

5,717 

105.9 

3,274 

385 

117.6 

1915 

35,533 

4,496 

126.5 

2,460 

285 

115.9 

1906-10 

155,599 

21,188 

136.2 

6,825 

715 

104.8 

1911-15 

201,685 

22,869 

113.4 

13,646 

1,502 

110.1 

'Figures  represent  recruits  examined  up  to  July  31,   1906. 

According  to  this  table  the  rejection  ratio  was,  as  a  rule,  higher  for 
the  white  than  for  the  colored,  although,  as  is  well  known,  the  average 
American  negro  is  of  a  distinctly  lower  degree  of  physical  resistance 
to  disease  than  the  average  white  man. 

IMPORTANT  CHANGES  IN  RECRUITING  STANDARDS 

Changes  in  recruiting  standards  are,  therefore,  of  the  first  importance 

in  connection  with  the  practical  use  of  recruiting  statistics.    According 

to  Munson,  "The  minimum  limit  of  stature  for  the  recruit  has  varied 

greatly  in  our  service.     Shortly  after  the  Revolution  it  was  fixed  at 

*  These  statistics  must  not  be  confused  with  the  corresponding  returns  of  the  Adjutant 
General   of  the  Army,  as  given  on   page  85. 

27 


5  feet  6  inches,  and  in  1835  a  minimum  of  5  feet  8  inches  for  infantry 
was  required.  In  1838  it  was  reduced  to  5  feet,  but  this  was  increased 
by  5  inches  three  years  later.  Before  the  end  of  the  Civil  War  it  was 
again  reduced  to  5  feet.  At  present  (1916-17)  it  is  placed  at  5  feet 
4  inches  for  all  branches  of  the  service,  although  recruiting  officers  are 
allowed  to  exercise  their  discretion  as  to  the  enlistment  of  desirable 
recruits  (such  as  band  rriusicians,  school-teachers,  tailors,  etc.)  vyho 
may  fall  not  more  than  a  fraction  of  an  inch  below  the  minimum 
standard  of  height.  The  above  requirement  for  height  is,  however, 
subject  to  change,  instructions  to  that  effect  being  issued  from  the 
i\djutant  General's  office  from  time  to  time  as  the  requirements  of  the 
service  may  dictate."  According  to  the  same  authority,  in  foreign 
armies  about  1900  the  minimum  height  of  soldiers  was  as  follows: 

MINIMUM  HEIGHT  OF  RECRUITS  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES 

(Munson) 

Inches  Inches 

English   63.8               Swiss  61.0 

Swedish    63.0               French  60.6 

German  61.8               Russian  60.2 

Belgian   61.8               Spanish  59.1 

Italian   61.4               Portuguese    59.1 

Austrian   61.4 

These  variations  in  prevailing  minimum  standards  of  stature  have  a 
direct  bearing  upon  the  more  or  less  important  differences  in  the  rejec- 
tion .rate  of  the  recruiting  service  of  the  different  countries. 

CHANGES  RBCOMMENDBD  BY  THE  COMMITTEE 

ON  ANTHROPOLOGY  OF  THE  NATIONAL 

RESEARCH  COUNCIL 

In  full  appreciation  of  the  practical  as  well  as  general  scientific 
importance  of  precise  anthropometric  and  other  measurements  of  the 
men  of  the  new  National  Army,  the  Committee  on  Anthropology  of 
the  National  Research  Council  presented  a  number  of  suggestions  to 
the  National  Academy  of  Science  and  through  the  National  Research 
Council  to  the  Council  of  National  Defense.  The  suggestions  con- 
sidered (1)  the  examination  of  recruits,  (2)  modification  of  stature 
requirements,  (3)  further  anthropometric  work  for  statistical  and 
scientific  purposes  at  the  concentration  camps,  and  (4)  material  for 
future  scientific  research.  The  communication  was  signed  by  Prof. 
W.  H.  Holmes,  Chairman,  and  the  members  of  the  Committee, 
Prof.  C.  B.  Davenport,  Dr.  Frederick  L.  Hoffman,  Dr.  G.  M.  Kober, 
Dr.  Ales  Hrdlicka,  Mr.  Madison  Grant,  Mr.  E.  A.  Hooton,  and  Dr. 
Tom  A.  Williams.  With  special  reference  to  modification  of  stature 
requirements,  it  is  first  pointed  out  that  the  minimum  requirements  of 
stature  in  any  branch  of  the  Army  and  Navy  (at  the  time  the  sugges- 

28 


tions  were  submitted,  August,  1917),  was  5  feet  4  inches.     In  further 
explanation  of  the  suggestions  it  was  said  that: 

The  minimum  for  the  English  infantry  and  some  other  branches  of  the  service 
prior  to  the  present  war  was  5  feet  2  inches,  and  it  has  since  been  reduced.  On 
the  Continent  the  minimum  differs  with  the  nationalities,  but  is  as  a  rule  lower 
than  that  of  the  United  States.  In  many  of  these  nationalities  the  average 
height  of  the  male  does  not  reach,  barely  equals,  or  only  slightly  surpasses  the 
minimum  requirement  for  the  soldier  of  the  United  States.  Many  of  these 
nationalities  are  well  represented  in  this  country.  They  include  Italians,  Greeks, 
French,  Mexicans,  Spanish,  Swiss,  the  Russian  and  Austrian  Jews,  many  of  the 
Slavs,  the  Magyars,  Roumanians,  Lithuanians  and  even  Germans.  Should  the 
present  minimum  in  stature  for  the  United  States  Army  and  Navy  be  rigidly 
adhered  to,  from  one-fourth  to  one-half  of  the  men  belonging  to  or  descending 
from  the  nationalities  mentioned  would  be  excluded  by  this  rule  alone,  thus 
resulting  in  serious  disadvantages,  the  chief  among  which  would  be  that  of 
placing  a  disproportionate  burden  in  the  formation  of  the  army  on  the  naturally 
taller  native  American. 

RACK  IN  RELATION  TO  NORMAL  STATURE 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  small  stature  in  a  large  majority  of  cases 
signifies  normal  variation  and  not  weakness  or  degeneration,  as 
has  repeatedly  been  proved  by  certain  regiments  of  short  stature  of 
England  and  other  short  stature  troops  of  European  countries,  the 
Committee  recommended  that  "the  minimum  stature  requirement  for 
the  new  United  States  Army  be  reduced,  for  all  branches  of  the  service, 
to  60  or  at  most  62  inches;  and  that  corresponding  with  this,  the 
minimum  weight  requirement  be  reduced  from  128  to  120  pounds." 
These  recommendations  were  subsequently  adopted  by  the  Chief  of 
Staff.  The  practical  importance  of  the  adoption  of  this  recommenda- 
tion is  one  of  far-reaching  significance,  on  account  of  the  vast  immigra- 
tion from  Southern  Europe  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years  and  the 
fact  that  the  Army  will  include  a  considerable  number  of  men  of  Amer- 
ican birth  of  South-European  parentage.  Practically  all  South-Euro- 
peans are  of  a  lower  stature  than  the  northern  races  of  Europe  or  the 
United  States.  In  forwarding  the  suggestions  and  recommendations,  these 
fundamental  facts  of  physical  anthropology  were  emphasized  by  Dr. 
Hrdlicka  and  amplified  by  a  table  showing  approximately  the  average 
height  of  European  nationalities,  exhibiting  an  average  stature  as  low 
as  63.7  inches  in  the  case  of  Magyars,  64.1  inches  in  the  case  of  Russian 
Jews,  64.7  inches  in  the  case  of  Italians,  and  64.8  inches  in  the  case  of 
Austrian  Slavs.  All  of  these  racial  elements  form  constituent  parts  of  the 
new  National  Army.  Their  unnecessary  rejection  on  the  basis  of  the  for- 
mer minimum  stature  would  have  been  a  foregone  conclusion.  The  aver- 
age height  for  certain  races  is  frequently  more  or  less  misleading  and 
often  useless  for  practical  purposes.  The  typical  frequency  distribution 
of  stature  is,  however,  of  decidedly  greater  scientific  value;  and  as  a 
useful  contribution  to  a  better  understanding  of  this  important  aspect 

29 


of  army  recruiting  a  series  of  tables  and  frequency  curves  has  been 
prepared  for  European  conscripts  and  American  recruits.  A  few  typical 
frequency  curves  of  stature,  for  the  purpose  of  convenient  illustration, 
have  been  worked  out  for  me  by  Mr.  Arne  Fisher,  the  well-known 
author  of  a  standard  treatise  on  ''Probabilities. "  The  point  of  view  that 
the  mean  or  average  value  of  a  large  number  of  measurements  may  be 
relied  upon  unconditionally  as  a  measure  of  comparison  is  a  serious 
fallacy  common  in  general  statistical  practice.  The  mean  at  best  repre- 
sents a  norm  around  which  the  other  values  of  the  variate  are  grouped. 
The  mean  frequency  gives  not  the  slightest  clue  as  to  the  possible 
tendency  of  the  statistical  material  to  cluster  around  a  particular  value 
which  for  practical  purposes  may  be  of  governing  importance.  As 
pointed  out  to  me  by  Mr.  Fisher  in  his  observations  on  the  frequency 
curves  of  recruits  that  if,  for  illustration,  the  mean  stature  of  American 
recruits  and  of  Norwegian  conscripts  are  67.52  inches  and  67.49  inches, 
respectively,  we  are  by  no  means  justified  in  assuming  that  the  statures 
of  the  two  populations  are  precisely  the  same,  although  the  difference  be- 
tween the  means  is  less  than  .03  part  of  an  inch.  It  is  quite  probable 
that  in  the  one  we  would  find  70  per  cent,  having  a  stature  between 
65  and  70  inches,  while  in  the  other  the  percentage  distribution 
would  amount  to  only  55  per  cent.  The  mean,  under  such  conditions, 
is  therefore  often  a  fictitious  mathematical  measure  which  without 
qualification  is  practically  certain  to  prove  misleading.  A  more  satis- 
factory method  is  to  determine  the  possible  presence  of  a  clustering 
tendency,  or  a  constant  known  as  the  dispersion,  or  the  standard  devia- 
tion around  the  mean  value.  If,  for.  illustration,  it  is  found  that  the 
mean  stature  of  Norwegian  conscripts  is  67.5  inches  and  the  disper- 
sion is  2.33  inches,  this  means  that  about  68  per  cent,  of  the  Norwegian 
conscripts  measure  between  65.17  and  69.83  inches.  *  More  precise 
statistical  analysis  readily  disproves  the  common  error  that  all  statistical 
frequency  curves  are  true  symmetrical  curves.  This  point  of  view  was 
first  advanced  by  the  German  mathematician  Gauss,  and  unfortunately 
widely  accepted  among  statisticians  of  modern  times.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  however,  the  symmetrical  distribution  is  the  exception  rather  than 
the  rule,  and  the  correct  ascertainment  of  frequency  distribution 
requires  in  addition  to  the  mean  and  the  dispersion  the  computation  of 
at  least  two  additional  parameters,  the  skewness  and  the  excess.  As 
explained  by  Mr.  Arne  Fisher,  "These  two  statistical  characteristics  are 
purely  abstract  numbers."  A  positive  skewness  indicates  a  tendency  to 
a  heavier  clustering  of  values  greater  than  the  mean ;  negative  skewness 
indicates  a  heavier  clustering  of  values  less  than  the  mean.    A  positive 


*  The  importance  of  the  dispersion  (also  called  the  standard  deviation)  as  the  best  measure 
of  a  clustering  tendency  about  the  mean  vakie  of  a  variate  is  emphasized  in  the  formulas  of 
the  mathematical  theory  of  probability.  Through  a  simple  application  of  the  Bernoullian 
theorem,  or  the  so-called  "law  of  large  numbers,"  it  can  be  shown  that  a  range  of  six  times 
the  dispersion  will  include  more  than  99  per  cent,  of  the  bulk  of  the  observations,  while  two 
ordinates  drawn  both  to  the  right  and  to  the  left  of  the  mean  at  a  distance  from  the  mean 
equal  to  the  dispersion  will  include  about  68   per  cent,    of  the  area   of  the  frequency  curve. 

30 


excess  means  a  tendency  to  make  the  frequency  curve  topheavy  around 
the  mean;  a  negative  excess  indicates  a  flattening  tendency.  Once 
having  computed  the  various  statistical  parameters  represented  by  the 
mean,  the  dispersion,  the  skewness  and  the  excess,  the  frequency  distri- 
bution is  easily  ascertained  for  any  value  of  the  varying  attributes  and 
reduced  to  a  common  standard  of  measure.  This  method  has  been 
followed  and  is  sufficiently  explained  in  the  diagrams  of  frequency 
distribution  of  the  conscripts  of  Norway,  Sweden,  Denmark,  Wiirttem- 
berg  and  Japan,  and  the  corresponding  measurements  of  recruits  of 
the  United  States  Army  previously  to  the  present  war.  (See  diagram 
on  page  32.)  All  of  the  frequency  dispersions  have  been  reduced 
to  English  measure.  The  values  of  the  various  statistical  parameters 
are  as  follows  :  * 

STATISTICAL  AND  MATHEMATICAL  CONSIDERATIONS  OF 

FREQUENCY  DISTRIBUTION  IN  PHYSICAL 

PROPORTIONS 

COMPARATIVE  MEASUREMENTS 
Values  of  the  Various  Statistical  Parameters 


Country 

Mean 

Dispersion 

Skewness 

Excess 

Coefficient 
of  Variability 

U  S.  A.  (1906-15) 

67.52" 

2.198" 

-0.0570 

-0.0062 

3.255 

Sweden  (1914) 

67.66" 

2.535" 

0.0008 

0.0084 

3.747 

Norway    (1913) 

67.49" 

2.335" 

-0.0106 

-0.0163 

3.460 

Denmark  (1916) 

66.54" 

2.573" 

0.0062 

0.0147 

3.867 

Wurttemburg  (1911) 

65.63" 

2.313" 

0.0293 

-O.0064 

3.524 

Japan    (1915) 

62.30" 

2.262" 

0.0124 

-0.0091 

3.631 

According  to  this  table  the  variation  is  most  pronounced  in  the 
case  of  the  Danes.  The  Swedes  are  evidently  the  tallest  of  the  races 
included  in  the  comparison,  showing  both  a  positive  skewness  and  a 
positive  excess.  Computing  the  distribution  from  the  equations  of 
the  frequency  curves,  Mr.  Fisher  presents  the  following  comparative 
results  on  the  basis  of  1,000  standard  measurement^  progressing  by 
one-inch  intervals  for  the  six  countries  for  which  the  data  could  be 
secured. 


*  For  an  elementary  description  of  frequency  distributions  see  "Elderton's  'Primer  of 
Statistics'"  (London,  1910),  and  H.  Secrist's  "Introduction  to  Statistical  Methods"  (New 
York,  1917).  A  more  advanced  treatment  is  to  be  found  in  Udny  Yule's  "Theory  of  Sta- 
tistics" (London,  1911).  Of  special  value  are  the  observations  by  Secrist  on  the  Graphic 
Presentation  of  Simple  Frequency  Series.  He  properly  directs  attention  to  the  common 
error  of  "Taking  measurements  with  extreme  accuracy  and  then  grouping  them  into  broad 
classes."  And  he  suggests  that  "Measurements  should  be  so  grouped  as  to  show  the 
variability  and  at  the  same  time  to  leave  the  frequency  distribution  fairly  smooth."  "For," 
he  remarks  in  continuation,  "in  the  matter  of  grouping  there  are  two  opposing  tendencies 
— grouping  into  too  few  classes  to  show  variability  and  grouping  into  too  many  classes  to 
give  a  smooth  distribution."  In  many  cases  "the  law  of  distribution  is  hidden  because  of 
too  much  detail." 


31 


m 


05 


03 


m 

5> 


•^ 
■^p^ 


1 


II 


-  p 

I  — 

=z 

^A-^ 

^      "  ' 

i  — 

-< — 

-^^ 

==s-: 

^ 

! 


^  ■ 


1 


^ 


i 

■j 

A 

B 

_^^fl 

B 

.jaBm 

V,  m 

:8i 

*5 

/ 

( 

V 

^  .  ■•v:.,:.'-^^ 

■         "  ■■ 

\^,^^ 

X 

\ 

\ 

1 

o  o 

9  ^ 


W 


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It 


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S^-5 

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32 


STATURE  OF  ARMY  CONSCRIPTS  AND  RECRUITS  IN  INCHES,  AS 
DETERMINED  BY  LAPLACEAN-CHARLIER  FREQUENCY  CURVES 

(By  Arne  Fisher) 


r 

a 

U.  S.  Army 
Recruits 
1906-1915 

Norwegian 

Conscripts 

1913 

Swedish 

Conscripts 

1914 

Danish 

Conscripts 

1916 

Warttemberg 

Conscripts 

1911 

Japanese 
Conscripts 
1915 

56 



4.7 

57 





12.5 

58 



31.6 

59 



1.3 

2.9 

1.2 

64.0 

60 



2.2 

6.7 

7.0 

106.5 

61 

2."i 

5.4 

15.0 

22.7 

148.6 

62 

3.8 

9.9 

12.9 

30.2 

53.4 

173.0 

63 

19.2 

29.4 

27.5 

54.0 

96.9 

169.8 

64 

53.8 

60.1 

53.4 

92.6 

141.7 

132.8 

65 

105.5 

100.3 

88.6 

130.5 

167.5 

83.9 

66 

155.7 

137.6 

127.8 

157.7 

164.8 

44.2 

67 

182.2 

165.2 

155.3 

160.0 

137.2 

20.8 

68 

169.5 

163.1 

159.7 

136.0 

97.0 

6.4 

69 

129.4 

132.8 

138.5 

96.9 

59.2 

1.2 

70 

86.8 

96.4 

102.0 

59.4 

30.9 

71 

51.0 

58.9 

63.4 

31.7 

13.6 

72 

26.3 

28.7 

34.6 

15.2 

5.0 

73 

11.4 

11.3 

16.4 

6.7 

1.5 

74 

4.2 

3.2 

7.0 

2.8 

0.3 

75 

1.2 

0.5 

2.7 

1.1 

76 



0.3 

1.3 

0.4 



77 

0.2 



0.2 



This  table  clearly  emphasizes  the  error  which  underlies  the  non-critical 
use  of  the  general  average  and  the  importance  of  utilizing  the  frequency 
distribution  as  a  more  trustworthy  measure  of  physical  types.  In  the 
two  diagrams  three  shades  have  been  adopted,  relatively  for  short, 
medium  and  tall  stature.  The  contrast,  for  illustration,  between  the 
complete  absence  of  persons  of  tall  stature  from  the  Japanese  army  and 
the  preponderance  of  tall  men  in  the  Swedish  army  is  very  striking.  The 
diagrams  strongly  suggest  the  urgency  of  more  qualified  attention 
to  questions  of  physical  anthropology  and  the  necessity  of  the  ascer- 
tainment of  new  standards  which  if  available  would  meet  many  press- 
ing army,  medical  and  other  practical  requirements. 

STANDARD  METHODS  OF  ANTHROPOMETRIC 
MEASUREMENTS 

The  value  of  the  anthropometric  statistics  of  the  United  States 
recruits  or  enlistments  previously  to  the  war  is  probably  more  limited 
than  the  scientific  use  of  the  corresponding  data  for  European  con- 
scripts, since  no  particular  value  was  attached  to  the  importance  of 
accuracy  in  such  measurement.  There  are  convincing  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  in  a  sufficient  proportion  both  the  height  and  the  weight 
were  rather  guessed  at  than  ascertained  with  the  required  precision. 

33 


This  element  of  inherent  inaccuracy  also  underlies  the  new  measure- 
ments of  the  men  of  the  National  Army,  and  the  results  though  truly 
colossal  in  their  proportions  will  be  decidedly  less  in  scientific  value 
than  would  easily  have  been  the  case,  if  the  necessity  for  accuracy  in 
measurement  and  the  urgency  of  a  preliminary  training  for  such  meas- 
urements had  been  recognized  by  the  army  authorities.  For  the  data, 
aside  from  their  mihtary  use,  as  observed  by  the  Committee  on  Anthro- 
pology of  the  National  Research  Council,  could  and  no  doubt  would  be 
utilized  for  broader  scientific  purposes.  It  was  therefore  considered 
imperative  that  the  following  directions  regarding  such  measurements 
should  be  followed  to  the  letter.  Unfortunately,  these  recommenda- 
tions were  not  adopted. 

SUGGESTED  DIRECTIONS  FOR  ANTHROPOMETRIC 

MEASUREMENTS  AT  RECRUITING  STATIONS. 

(Committee  on  Anthropology,  National  Research  Council.) 

Instruments. 

A.  Tape  4  feet  long,  1^  inches  wide,  for  measuring  height; 

B.  A  wooden  square,  an  adjunct  to  A ; 

C.  Tape  3  feet  long,  ^  inches  wide,  for  measuring  chest.  * 

Preparation. 
1)      Select  the  best  lighted  part  of  the  available  wall  space.     If  a 
choice  is  possible,  select  the  side  in  which  the  light  will  strike  the 
recruit  from  the  left  side. 

(2)  Measure  with  tape  A  exactly  three  feet  from  the  floor,  and  make- 
a  horizontal  line  at  that  point. 

(3)  Fasten  tape  A  with  a  couple  of  suitable  tacks  or  nails,  vertically 
on  the  wall,  in  such  a  way  that  its  lower  edge  coincides  with  the 
three-foot  mark.  The  top  of  the  tape  will  now  be  7  feet  from 
the  ground. 

Directions  for  Measurements. 
1.        Height — Stand  recruit,  in  bare  feet  and  without  coat  against  the 
tape  on  the  wall. 

See  to  it  that  he  stands  straight,  but  without  straining  or  stretch- 
ing, touching  the  wall  with  his  heels,  buttocks  and  shoulders,  and 
holding  his  head  so  that  he  looks  straight  forward.  The  head 
may  touch  the  tape  on  the  wall,  but  does  not  need  to  do  so. 
Apply  wooden  square  horizontally  to  tape  on  the  wall  and  bring 
it  down   on  the  head   of   the  subject,   with   sufficient  pressure 


*  There  is  a  probable  inconsistency  in  the  recommendation  for  a  three-foot  tape-measure 
for  chest  measurements.  It  would  probably  be  best  to  furnish  the  examiner  with  a  standard 
tape-measure  of  not  less  than  forty-eight  inches;  while  for  height  measurements  a  measure 
of  seventy-two  inches  would  probably  be  preferable  to  one  of  forty-eight  inches,  placed 
thirty-six  inches  above  the  ground. 

34 


to  feel  the  hard  calvarium,  and  carefully  note  measurement,  to 
the  nearest  ys  of  an  inch. 

2.        Circumference  of  Chest — The  recruit  faces  the  light  as  well  as 
the  examiner. 

The  elbows  are  raised  somewhat  (about  45  degrees  from  the 
body).  Facing  the  recruit  the  examiner  passes  the  tape  behind 
the  body.  One  end  held  in  the  left  hand  is  pressed  against  the 
middle  of  the  chest  on  a  level  with  the  nipples  while  the  other 
end  is  brought  around  by  the  right  hand  until  the  overlapping 
permits  of  correct  reading. 

Record  measurement  in  utmost  expiration  and  deepest  inspira- 
tion. 
Sources  of  error  to  he  strictly  avoided:     Conversation  during  measur- 
ing; interruptions;  incorrect  reading  of  scale;  incorrect  record- 
ing. 
(The  suggested  measurements  would  not  require  any  very  consider- 
able degree  of  scientific  skill  and  as  regards  cost  it  was  estimated  that 
the  total  amount  would  be  less  than  $1  for  each"  set  of  instruments  as 
required  for  each  recruiting  station.) 

STATURE  OF  ACCEPTED  UNITED   STATES  RECRUITS 
UNDER  THE  VOLUNTARY  SYSTEM  OF  ENLISTMENT 

As  a  practical  illustration  of  the  truly  immense  opportunity  for  the 
scientific  ascertainment  of  the  varying  bodily  proportions  among  men 
of  mihtary  age,  the  following  table  shows  the  observed  number  of 
recruits  at  various  ages  in  the  experience  of  the  United  States  Army 
during  the  period  1906-15.  * 

OBSERVED  NUMBER  OF  RECRUITS  AT  VARIOUS  AGES 
UNITED  STATES  ARMY,  1906-1915 


Inches 

62 
63 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25  and  Over 

"219 

"189 

"ii8 

"617 

"345 

"211 

"228 

1305 

64 

1453 

986 

574 

3910 

2079 

1713 

1546 

8534 

65 

2487 

1626 

924 

6453 

3390 

2771 

2572 

14404 

66 

3087 

2109 

1125 

9013 

4755 

3767 

3554 

20162 

67 

3112 

2171 

1281 

10621 

5472 

4176 

3997 

22416 

68 

2773 

1918 

1103 

10298 

5461 

4361 

4095 

22162 

69 

1887 

1328 

796 

8165 

4255 

3356 

3291 

17473 

70 

1064 

833 

517 

5409 

2991 

2375 

2259 

12197 

71 

477 

400 

270 
6708 

3051 

1642 

1249 

1295 

6670 

Total 

16559 

11560 

57537 

30390 

23979 

22837 

125323 

*  In  this  computation  all  the  statures  below  63  inches  and  all  those  above  71  inches  have 
been  omitted.  The  nine-inch  interval  was  chosen  because  of  the  fact  that  a  very  few  tall 
and  a  very  few  short  recruits  would  tend  to  displace  any  indications  of  change  in  stature 
among  the  greater  bulk  of  younger  members.  The  computed  frequency  curves  must  there- 
fore not  be  confused  with  data  on  page  39  showing  the  whole  range  of  variation  or  with 
the  frequency  curve  for  recruits  of  all  ages. 

35 


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36 


This  table  represents  the  measurement  of  294,893  recruits.  Unfortu- 
nately and  in  obvious  disregard  of  scientific  requirements  the  results  for 
the  measurements  for  ages  25  and  over  are  given  as  a  group.  The  average 
for  such  a  group  including  all  ages  up  to  the  military  limit  must  neces- 
sarily be  misleading  and  utterly  inconclusive,  since  this  group  includes 
125,323  measurements,  or  42.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  measurements, 
at  all  ages.  The  scientific  error  of  returning  the  results  for  ages  25  and 
over  in  the  aggregate  is  of  sufficient  magnitude  to  seriously  impair  the 
value  of  the  returns  as  a  w^hole.  For  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the 
frequency  distribution  of  stature  in  relation  to  age,  the  returns  should 
have  been  given  by  single  years  of  life,  certainly  up  to  age  40;  and  if 
this  had  been  done,  the  results  would  have  been  much  more  valuable 
in  their  application  to  practical  uses  than  as  published  annually  in  their 
present  form  in  the  Surgeon  General's  report. 

Fitting  the  above  data  to  frequency  curves,  Mr.  Fisher  has 
obtained  for  me  the  follov^ing  values  for  the  various  statistical 
parameters : 

FREQUENCY  DISTRIBUTION  OF  STATURE,  UNITED   STATES 
ARMY  RECRUITS 

1906-1916 
Statistical  Parameters 


Age 

Mean 

Dispersion 

Skewness 

Excess 

18 

66.900  inches 

1.855  inches 

-0.0283 

-0.0269 

19 

66.965      " 

1.898 

-0.0235 

-0.0275 

20 

67.024      " 

1.936 

-0.0018 

-0.0290 

21 

67.329      " 

1.929 

0.0009 

-0.0303 

22 

67.341      " 

1.943 

0.0024 

-O.0310 

22, 

67.329      " 

1.939 

0.0004 

-0.0325 

24 

67.367      " 

1.948 

0.0027 

-0.0321 

25  and  over      67.325 


1.948 


0.0011 


-0.0317 


The  theoretical  frequency  distribution  per  1,000  recruits  at  single 
years  of  life  under  age  25  and  at  ages  25  and  over,  considered  as  a 
group,  is  as  follows : 

FREQUENCY  DISTRIBUTION  OF  STATURE,  UNITED  STATES 

ARMY  RECRUITS 

1906-1915 


(Based  on 

the  heights  between  63  and  71  inches) 

tches 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25  and  Over 

62 

2.9 

3.5 

5.2 

2.4 

2.7 

2.4 

2.5 

2.4 

63 

24.2 

24.7 

26.4 

17.9 

18.4 

18.3 

17.9 

18.1 

64 

74.7 

73.3 

71.1 

54.6 

55.3 

55.9 

54.6 

56.5 

65 

142.9 

135.7 

127.2 

109.7 

109.3 

111.5 

108.1 

111.3 

66 

188.8 

182.7 

172.5 

160.7 

158.9 

159.8 

157.6 

160.9 

67 

195.7 

192.2 

187.7 

186.0 

183.8 

183.7 

182.4 

184.6 

68 

166.9 

167.8 

172.8 

181.0 

179.9 

178.9 

179.6 

179.1 

69 

116.1 

121.2 

129.4 

145.9 

147.0 

146.0 

147.7 

145.0 

70 

61.0 

66.7 

72.9 

91.4 

92.2 

91.6 

94.7 

90.6 

71 

22.0 

25.6 

28.6 

39.7 

41.1 

40.7 

42.8 

40.3 

72 

4.7 

6.2 

6.1 

10.3 

10.7 

10.6 

11.4 

10.5 

73 

0.1 

0.4 

0.1 

0.4 

0.7 

0.6 

0.7 

0.6 

37 


RACE  IN  RELATION  TO  FREQUENCY  DISTRIBUTION 

OF  STATURE 

Apparently  the  intensity  of  the  variation  in  stature  increases  with 
the  age  as  indicated  by  the  dispersion  or  standard  deviation.  The 
skewness  remains  negative  up  to  age  21,  but  from  that  age  onward  it 
is  positive.  According  to  Mr.  Arne  Fisher,  "The  figures  seem  to 
irldicate  that  bodily  growth  in  respect  to  height  to  all  practical  purposes 
is  completed  between  the  ages  of  20  and  21,  and  that  from  this  period 
onward  the  statistical  parameters  remain  practically  constant."  This 
conclusion,  however,  might  be  modified  if  the  details  for  single  years 
of  life  subsequent  to  age  24  were  available.  The  anthropometric  values 
for  adult  ages  are  of  a  much  higher  degree  of  practical  utility  than  has 
thus  far  been  recognized.  The  most  notable  contribution  to  the  study 
of  this  important  aspect  of  physical  anthropology  is  the  results  ob- 
tained by  the  Medico- Actuarial  Committee  from  the  experience  of 
American  life  insurance  companies.  The  scientific  value  of  these  results, 
however,  is  materially  impaired  by  the  fact  that  the  measurements  rep- 
resent a  heterogeneous  group,  just  as  this  was  the  case  with  American  re- 
cruits previously  to  the  present  war.  Indifference  to  the  factor  of  race  or 
racial  inheritance  of  bodily  physical  proportions  impairs  aggregate  data 
representative  of  widely  varying  types  of  mankind.  Comparing  the 
frequency  distribution  of  the  heights  of  American  males  as  ascertained 
by  the  Medico- Actuarial  investigation  with  the  heights  of  United  States 
Army  recruits,  it  becomes  apparent  that  either  the  measurements  were 
wanting  in  accuracy,  or,  as  is  more  likely,  that  the  results  represent  a 
compound  curve  consisting  on  the  one  hand  of  males  above  average  stat- 
ure typical  of  the  native  United  States  population,  Scotchmen,  Scandi- 
navians, etc.,  and  males  of  short  stature  typical  of  Southern  European 
races.  A  compound  frequency  curve  for  such  heterogeneous  elements 
cannot  possibly  be  relied  upon  as  trustworthy  for  scientific  and  a  variety 
of  practical  purposes  unless  the  relative  racial  distribution  is  known 
with  at  least  approximate  accuracy.  A  critical  examination  of  the 
corresponding  curve  for  Italian  recruits  exhibits  a  somewhat  similar 
phenomenon.  Obviously  the  inclusion  of  the  short-type  recruits  from 
the  southern  provinces  with  the  relatively  tall-type  recruits  from  the 
northern  part  of  Italy  in  one  curve  yields  results  practically  applicable 
to  neither  group  but  representative  of  a  non-existing  type,  which,  of 
course,  is  scientifically  misleading. 

In  the  United  States  Army  the  racial  aspects  of  army  recruiting 
have  been  limited  to  the  whites  and  the  negroes,  or  persons  of 
African  descent,  the  Indians  and  the  Filipinos.  The  essential  statistical 
facts  of  the  recruiting  physique  of  the  whites  and  of  the  negroes  are 
presented  in  the  following  series  of  tables : 

38 


DIST 

RIBUTIO^ 

I  OF  S 

TATl 

JRE 

ACCC 

)RDI^ 

IG  TC 

)  AGE  OF  ACCEPTED 

UNITED  STATES  RECRUITS  (WHITE),  1906-1915,  PER  1000 

18  Years 

26 

All 

Height             and  Under      19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

and  Over 

Ages 

Under  63  inches 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

63  inches 

13 

16 

17 

10 

11 

10 

9 

11 

10 

10 

64      ' 

86 

83 

83 

65 

65 

69 

64 

63 

64 

67 

65      ' 

147 

137 

133 

108 

106 

109 

107 

107 

109 

112 

66      • 

182 

177 

162 

150 

149 

152 

147 

149 

152 

154 

67      ' 

184 

182 

184 

177 

172 

166 

165 

167 

169 

172 

68      ' 

164 

161 

159 

171 

171 

170 

169 

168 

167 

168 

69      ' 

111 

111 

114 

136 

134 

130 

136 

130 

132 

131 

70      ' 

63 

70 

74 

90 

94 

95 

94 

96 

91 

89 

71      ' 

28 

34 

39 

51 

52 

51 

54 

54 

50 

49 

12      ' 

*      and  over 

21 

28 
1000 

34 
1000 

41 

45 

47 

54 

54 

54 

47 

Total 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

No. 

of  men 

16931 

11910  6953  60104  31872  19477  24171 

18544  114151  304113 

This  table  may  be  compared  with  the  table  below  for  colored  recruits 
or  persons  of  African  descent: 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  STATURE  ACCORDING  TO  AGE  OF  ACCEPTED 


u 

Nil 

PED  S 

TATES 

REC 

Run 

^S   (C( 

3L0R 

ED), 

1906-1915,  PER  1000 

18  Years 

26            All 

Height 

and  Under    19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

and  Over  Ages 

Under  63 

inches 

5 

1 

2 

1 

2            1 

63  inches 

17 

17 

15 

7 

8 

10 

8 

6 

9           9 

64      ' 

112 

108 

89 

72 

51 

66 

64 

65 

58         65 

65      ' 

165 

137 

131 

133 

127 

116 

125 

128 

113        121 

66      ' 

195 

172 

193 

164 

174 

155 

154 

168 

158        163 

67      ' 

189 

189 

159 

164 

181 

181 

161 

171 

183        179 

68      ' 

124 

149 

162 

173 

164 

162 

179 

179 

169        168 

69      ' 

107 

104 

104 

133 

122 

144 

133 

121 

125        126 

70      ' 

59 

70 

70 

80 

85 

79 

82 

80 

87         82 

71      ' 

19 

29 

34 

43 

47 

45 

42 

37 

50         45 

n    ' 

and  ov 

er       8 

25 

43 
1000 

30 

39 

42 

51 

45 

46         41 

Total 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000      1000 

No. 

of 

men 

597 

518 

327 

2334 

1608 

1166 

1344 

1052 

9056    18002 

The  much  lesser  number  of  colored  recruits  precludes  a  strict  com- 
parison, but  in  the  main  the  data  may  be  relied  on  as  trustworthy.  As 
will  be  observed,  the  total  number  of  white  recruits  examined  was 
304,113,  against  18,002  colored. 

RACE  IN  RELATION  TO  WEIGHT  • 
The  distribution  of  white  recruits  by  weight  is  presented  in  the  table 
below.     Possibly  the  grouping  of  the  weights  in  series  of  ten  pounds 
each  falls  short  of  the  required  degree  of  scientific  attainment,  and 
five-pound  groups  would  perhaps  have  been  preferable: 


39 


DISTRIBUTION   OF  WEIGHT  ACCORDING  TO  AGE  OF  ACCEPTED 
UNITED  STATES  RECRUITS  (WHITE) 
1906-1915,  PER  1000 


Weight 

Under  120  lbs. 

18  Years 
and  Under  19 

41   33 

20 

26 

21 

15 

22 

12 

23 

12 

24 

12 

25 

12 

26 
and  Over 

16 

All 
Ages 

17 

120-129  lbs. 

348 

308 

270 

189 

160 

141 

127 

128 

106 

156 

130-139 

325 

335 

317 

304 

281 

270 

251 

248 

213 

261 

140-149 
150-159 

187 
69 

204 
80 

217 
115 

265 
144 

276 
164 

278 
177 

273 
185 

272 
184 

238 
181 

250 
161 

160-169 

21 

28 

37 

57 

72 

78 

94 

93 

113 

83 

170-179 

6 

8 

13 

18 

25 

30 

37 

39 

63 

38 

180  and  over 

3 

4 

5 

1000 
5953  ( 

8 

10 

14 

21 

24 

70 

34 

Total 

No.  of  men 

1000 
16931  ] 

1000 
11910  ( 

1000  1000  1000  1000  1000   1000   1000 
50104  31872  19477  24171  18544  114151  304133 

The    corresponding    distribution    of    weight    according    to    age    of 
accepted  colored  recruits  is  presented  in  the  table  below : 

DISTRIBUTION   OF  WEIGHT  ACCORDING  TO  AGE  OF  ACCEPTED 

UNITED   STATES   RECRUITS    (COLORED) 

1906-1915,  PER  1000 


Weight 

18  Years 
and  Under  19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

All 

Ages 

Under  120  lbs. 

27 

31 

21 

12 

3 

4 

7 

4 

4 

7 

120-129 

286 

257 

172 

124 

119 

101 

71 

80 

63 

95 

130-139 

342 

303 

339 

290 

243 

220 

211 

213 

177 

217 

140-149 

234 

234 

248 

286 

289 

281 

292 

270 

242 

259 

150-159 

79 

117 

122 

178 

201 

208 

220 

246 

209 

199 

160-169 

25 

37 

67 

69 

102 

117 

124 

116 

150 

120 

170-179 

5 

15 

25 

30 

29 

45 

54 

44 

77 

56 

180  and  over 

2 

6   6 
1000  1000 

11 

14 

24 

21 

27 
1000 

78 

47 

Total 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

No.  of  men 

597 

518 

327 

2334 

1608 

1166 

1344 

1052 

9056 

18002 

Mr.  Arne  Fisher  has  also  worked  out  for  me  the  frequency  curves 
for  weight  according  to  age  for  white  recruits.  In  the  analysis  of  these 
curves  he  points  out  that  on  account  of  the  military  requirements  as  to 
the  minimum  permissible  weight  of  recruits  there  exists  a  well-defined 
lower  limit  for  the  range  of  the  curve  of  a  more  pronounced  character 
than  in  the  case  of  the  measurements  of  stature.  On  this  account  the 
curves  are  rather  skew  in  appearance  and  therefore  represented  by  the 
type  known  as  the  Poisson-Charlier  B  Curves.  The  theoretical  frequency 
distribution  by  five-pound  groups  per  1,000  recruits  at  single  years 
of  life  under  age  25  and  at  ages  25  and  over,  considered  as  a  group,  is 
as  follows: 

40 


FREQUENCY  DISTRIBUTION  OF  WEIGHT— UNITED  STATES  ARMY 

RECRUITS  AS  DETERMINED  FROM  POISSON-CHARLIER 

FREQUENCY  CURVES 


Pounds 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25  and  Over 

Under  120 

54.4 

43.8 

33.7 

16.6 

11.7 

7.8 

9.9 

6.7 

120-124 

141.9 

123.6 

102.1 

63.0 

51.2 

35.7 

43.1 

32.3 

125-129 

188.0 

176.4 

158.7 

120.0 

10O8 

82.8 

91.9 

75.8 

130-134 

177.0 

176.5 

170.0 

156.0 

142.3 

130.2 

1303 

115.7 

135-139 

147.9 

147.9 

149.0 

159.6 

156.4 

157.5 

141.3 

131.3 

140-144 

108.4 

115.2 

1204 

141.1 

141.1 

158.6 

130.2 

121.7 

145-149 

78.4 

85.4 

94.1 

113.9 

122.8 

136.7 

111.8 

102.6 

150-154 

51.8 

58.8 

69.7 

85.9 

95.5 

106.9 

94.3 

87.5 

155-159 

30.4 

36.3 

47.1 

60.3 

69.6 

75.9 

78.1 

78.4 

160-164 

15.7 

19.9 

28.5 

38.8 

46.6 

48.4 

61.2 

70.4 

165-169 

7.1 

9.6 

15.3 

22.8 

28.7 

29.2 

44.4 

59.5 

170-174 

2.9 

4.2 

7.3 

12.1 

16.3 

16.0 

29.1 

45.6 

175-179 

1.1 

1.6 

3.2 

5.9 

8.2 

8.1 

17.2 

31.5 

180-184 

03 

0.6 

1.2 

2.6 

3.0 

3.8 

9.3 

19.6 

185-189 

OO 

0.0 

0.4 

1.1 

1.7 

1.7 

4.6 

11.0 

190-194 

0.0 

0.0 

0.2 

0.4 

0.8 

07 

2.1 

5.7 

195-199 

01 

0.2 

03 

01 

1.2 

2.7 

200-204 

1.2 

205-209 

OS 

210-214 



0.2 

The  frequency  curves  are  shown  in  graphic  form  on  page  42. 

RACK  IN  RELATION  TO  CHEST  MEASUREMENTS 
The  third  and  last  physical  measurement  of  United  States  Army 
recruits,  as  reported  upon  by  the  Surgeon  General  is  the  chest  measure- 
ment. Unless  the  method  of  measurement  employed  is  carefully  defined 
and  its  precise  significance  is  clearly  indicated,  the  results  may  be  quite 
considerably  at  variance  with  the  facts  or  the  inferences  drawn  there- 
from. Methods  of  chest  measurement  vary  widely.  *  The  difference 
between  the  chest  at  rest  and  the  maximum  expansion  and  the  minimum 
deflation  is  not  only  quite  considerable  but  not  always  accurately  ascer- 
tained without  difficulty.  What  the  methods  have  been  in  the  Army,  how 
much  they  have  varied  from  time  to  time  and  whether  the  instructions 
have  been  precisely  followed  are  all  matters  open  to  question.  The 
distribution  of  chest  measurements  as  obtained  for  white  recruits  is 
given  in  the  table  following: 

*  The  rules  regarding  chest  expansion  have  undergone  more  or  less  important  changes. 
According  to  the  new  standard  of  physical  examination  promulgated  by  the  Secretary  of 
War  under  date  of  June  5,  1918,  all  registrants  "with  a  chest  measurement  of  less  than 
thirty  inches  and  a  chest  mobility  of  less  than  two  inches"  require  to  be  unconditionally 
rejected.  The  Army  rules  require  "all  chest  measurements  to  be  taken  on  a  level  just  above 
the  nipple."  See  "Details  of  Military  Medical  Administration,"  by  Joseph  H.  Gora,  Colonel, 
Medical  Corps,  United  States  Army,  Philadelphia,  1918,  page  493.  The  chest  expansion  must 
not,  of  course,  be  confused  with  pulmonary  capacity.  B.  A.  Gould,  in  his  Investigations  in 
the  Military  and  Anthropological  Statistics  of  American  Soldiers,  considered  this  question 
at  considerable  length,  including  observations  on  the  relation  of  pulmonary  capacity  to  stature, 
to  length  of  body,  to  circumference  of  chest,  to  play  of  chest,  and  to  age.  He  refers  to  the 
well-known  observations  by  Hutchinson,  according  to  whom  "The  vital  capacity  differs  in 
man  according  to  height,  weight,  age  and  disease."  For  these  and  other  reasons,  all  chest 
measurements  should  be  in  conformity  to  thoroughly  standardized  and  well-understood  methods 
of  examination.     See,  also.   Direction  No.  2   on  page  35. 

41 


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42 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  CHEST  MEASUREMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  AGE 
OF  ACCEPTED  UNITED  STATES  ARMY  RECRUITS  (WHITE) 
1906-1915,   PER  1000 


Chest 
Measurement 

18  Years 
and  Under 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

Ail 
Ages 

Under   31 

139 

110 

91 

53 

41 

33 

28 

28 

20 

42 

31 

201 

188 

169 

118 

103 

89 

79 

74 

58 

95 

32 

296 

287 

257 

246 

222 

203 

.181 

179 

141 

197 

33 

198 

213 

229 

242 

241 

237 

235 

233 

190 

217 

34 

107 

121 

142 

177 

194 

208 

206 

207 

196 

185 

35 

40 

53 

67 

98 

115 

125 

143 

142 

153 

123 

36 

IS 

21 

32 

45 

54 

66 

n 

81 

107 

n 

37 

3 

5 

9 

15 

19 

25 

31 

34 

60 

34 

38 

1 

1 

2 

4 

8 

10 

13 

14 

36 

18 

39  and  over        0.4 

1 

2 
1000 

2 

3 

4 

7 

8 

39 

17 

Total 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

1000 

No.  of  men 

16931 

11910  6953  60104  31872  19477  24171 

18544  114151  304113 

The  frequency  distributions  according  to  chest  measurement  for 
white  recruits  as  determined  by  Mr.  Fisher  from  the  Poisson-Charlier 
frequency  curves  give  the  following  values  according  to  age : 


FREQUENCY  DISTRIBUTION  OF  CHEST  MEASUREMENTS— UNITED 

STATES  ARMY  RECRUITS  AS  DETERMINED  FROM  POISSON- 

CHARUER  FREQUENCY  CURVES 


Inches 

18  Years 
and  Under 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26  and 
Over 

Under  31 

225.8 

93.5 

75.9 

41.5 

32.7 

26.0 

21.4 

20.9 

16-2 

32 

281.4 

225.4 

197.1 

143.5 

122.4 

105.3 

91.4 

88.8 

66.3 

33 

202.9 

267.7 

254.5 

232.6 

213.9 

197.7 

181.3 

176.9 

135.9 

34 

131.1 

208.9 

217.9 

239.2 

237.4 

234.5 

227.5 

224.2 

186.5 

35 

82.2 

120.6 

139.1 

176.7 

189.5 

199.2 

205.0 

204.9 

192.9 

36 

45.2 

54.8 

70.6 

100.0 

116.0 

129.8 

142.0 

144.5 

160.4 

Z1 

20.6 

20.5 

29.8 

44.8 

56.6 

tl.Z 

78.6 

81.7 

111.6 

38 

7.8 

6.4 

10.7 

16.1 

22.3 

28.2 

35.4 

37.9 

67.0 

39 

2.4 

1.7 

3.4 

4.6 

7.0 

9.4 

13.0 

14.5 

35.2 

40 

0.7 

0.4 

0.9 

0.9 

1.8 

2.5 

3.8 

4.5 

16.6 

41 

0.1 

0.1 

0.3 

0.1 

0.2 

0.3 

0.7 

1.1 

7.1 

42 

0.1 

0.1 

0.1 

0.1 

0.1 

0.2 

2.7 

43 



1.0 

44 









0.4 

45 









0.2 

The  frequency  curves  are  shown  in  graphic  form  on  page  44, 

43 


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44 


The  chest  measurements  of  the  colored  are  as  follows : 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  CHEST  MEASUREMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  AGE 

OF  ACCEPTED  UNITED  STATES  RECRUITS  (COLORED) 

1906-1915,  PER  1000 


Chest 
Measurement 

18  Years 
and  Under 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 
and  Over 

All 
Ages 

Under  31 

178 

137 

98 

72 

51 

32 

31 

27 

17 

40 

31 

203 

210 

162 

127 

123 

72 

65 

80 

55 

86 

32 

291 

303 

260 

241 

216 

213 

200 

190 

140 

185 

33 

196 

180 

220 

224 

229 

235 

240 

237 

187 

206 

34 

80 

95 

131 

180 

204 

194 

213 

210 

206 

194 

35 

37 

48 

80 

83 

113 

135 

132 

134 

162 

132 

36 

10 

21 

31 

50 

44 

71 

83 

76 

111 

82 

37 

3 

4 

9 

15 

14 

35 

22 

26 

60 

39 

38 

2 

9 

5 

4 

10 

8 

14 

33  ' 

20 

39  and  over 

2 

3 

2 

3 

6 

6 

29 

16 

Total  1000    1000  1000    1000    1000    1000    1000    1000      1000      1000 

No.  of  men  597      518    327    2334    1608    1166    1344    1052      9056    18002 

Whether  these  statistics  are  really  useful  and  conclusive  for  scientific 
purposes  is  an  open  question.  How  far  the  results  are  in  consequence 
of  methods  of  selection  cannot,  of  course,  be  decided  until  the  data  have 
been  subjected  to  extended  analysis.  It  is  shown,i  for  illustration,  that  of 
the  white  recruits  the  proportion  with  a  chest  measurement  of  less  than 
33  inches  was  33.4  per  cent.,  in  comparison  with  31.1  per  cent,  for  the 
colored.  General  investigations  into  the  comparative  anthropometry 
of  white  and  colored  races,  especially  Americans  of  African  descent, 
disclose  more  pronounced  differences  in  their  vital  capacity  than  are 
here  indicated.  An  admirable  illustration  of  such  comparative  studies 
in  physical  anthropology  is  the  report  by  Dr.  Ales  Hrdlicka  on  One 
Thousand  White  and  Colored  Children,  Inmates  of  the  New  York 
Juvenile  Asylum.  It  may  also  be  said  that  the  chest  measure- 
ments in  the  Army  are  required  to  be  taken  on  a  level,  just  above  the 
nipples,  and  that  the  following  standard  table  has  been  adopted  by  the 
army  authorities  as  a  basic  regulation  governing  physical  examinations, 
under  the  Selective  Service  Act  of  May  18,  1917.  Under  the  revised 
regulations  (June  5,  1918),  however,  the  minimum  permissible  height 
is  63  inches,*  and  the  weight  116  lbs.,  excepting  registrants  from  our 
insular  possessions : 


*  The  minimum  height  under  the  regulations  of  May  18,  1917,  has  since  been  again 
reduced  to  60  inches  (July  19,  1918).  The  importance  of  the  racial  aspects  of  medical 
examinations  for  military  service  was  brought  up  by  Dr.  O.  L,.  Williamson,  of  Mariana,  Ark., 
at  the  Conference  of  Physical  Examination  under  the  Selective  Service  (held  in  Chicago, 
June  13,  1918),  who  said  that  "Many  physically  fit  negroes  have  not  a  chest  mobility  of 
two  inches  and  they  do  not  know  how  to  expand  the  chest."  The  answer  made  by  the 
chairman  of  the  meeting  was  that  this  was  entirely  a  local  question  and  a  problem  for 
local  disposition.  The  problem,  however,  can  only  be  solved  by  a  better  understanding  of 
the  principles  of  physical  anthropology  and  the  known  facts  of  race  pathology. 

45 


HEIGHT- 

Feet 

Inches 

weigh: 

Pounds 

5   1/12 

61 

118 

5  2/12 

62 

120 

5  3/12 

63 

124 

5  4/12 

64 

128 

5  5/12 

65 

130 

5  6/12 

66 

132 

5  7/12 

67 

134 

5  8/12 

68 

141 

5  9/12 

69 

148 

5  10/12 

70 

155 

5  11/12 

71 

162 

6 

n 

169 

6  1/12 

IZ 

176 

6  2/12 

74 

183 

6  3/12 

75 

190 

6  4/12 

76 

197 

6  5/12 

77 

204 

6  6/12 

78 

211 

STANDARD  OF  PHYSICAL  PROPORTIONS  ADOPTED 

MAY  18,  1917 
STANDARD  TABLE  OF  HEIGHT,  WEIGHT  AND  CHEST 
MEASUREMENTS,  UNITED  STATES  ARMY,  1917 

-CHEST  MEASUREMENT • 

At  Expiration  Mobility 

Inches  Inches 

31  2 

31  2 

31  2 
2>2  2 

32  2 
2>2y2  2 

33  2 

Z2>%  2H 

^Z'A  2K 

34  2y2 
34^  2^ 
3434  3 
35^  3 
36^  3 
363/4  354 
37^  3^ 
37^  33^ 
38^  4 

It  requires  to  be  explained  that  the  following  variations  below  the 
standard  are  permissible  when  the  applicant  for  military  service  is 
active,  has  firm  muscles  and  is  evidently  vigorous  and  healthy. 

PERMISSIBLE  VARIATIONS  IN  PHYSICAL  PROPORTIONS 
UNITED  STATES  ARMY,  1917 

Height,  Inches  Inches  Weight,  Pounds 

61  and  under  64  1  8 

64  and  under  68  2  10 

(>8  and  under  69  2  12 

69  and  under  70  2  15 

70  and  under  7Z  2  ^                      20 
72)  and  upward  2  24 

It  is  quite  probable  that  these  variations  are  only  tentative  and  that 
further  and  possibly  even  radical  modifications  may  be  introduced  by 
the  military  authorities  during  the  examination  of  the  men  called  out 
in  response  to  the  Second  Selective  Draft. 

ANALYSIS  OF  FOREIGN  RECRUITING  STATISTICS 

For  a  considerable  number  of  foreign  countries  in  which  the  system 
of  conscription  prevails,  more  or  less  trustworthy  statistics  of  recruit- 
ing are  available,  although  in  each  and  every  case  extreme  care  is 
required  in  the  use  of  the  data  for  comparative  purposes.  The 
terminology  employed  frequently  does  not  permit  of  precise  translation 
and  occasionally  it  is  impossible  to  determine  whether  the  rates  of 

46 


acceptance  or  rejection  are  based  upon  the  number  of  conscripts  at  large 
or  only  those  examined  subsequently  to  a  preliminary  process  of  elimi- 
nation. The  most  comprehensive  treatise  on  the  subject  of  recruiting  sta- 
tistics is  the  fifth  volume  of  the  Handbook  of  Military  Hygiene  by 
Bischoff,  Hoffman  and  Schwiening,  published  in  Berlin,  1913.  Of  much 
additional  value  is  the  article  on  Military  Efficiency  by  Claassen  in  the 
Handbook  of  Social  Hygiene,  by  Grotjahn-Kaup,  published  in  Leipzig, 
1912.  The  references  to  foreign  statistics  in  handbooks  on  military  and 
naval  hygiene  by  American  and  English  authors  are  exceedingly  frag- 
mentary and  practically  useless  for  trustworthy  comparative  scientific 
purposes.  The  whole  question  of  normal  physical  growth  and  normal 
bodily  proportions  with  a  due  regard  to  race,  sex  and  age  has  been  re- 
ported upon  to  best  advantage  for  practical  purposes  by  Dr.  S.  Weissen- 
berg,  Stuttgart,  1911.  The  conclusions  arrived  at  by  means  of  strictly 
scientific  investigations  are  much  more  generally  applied  in  the  selec- 
tion of  recruits  in  foreign  countries  than  in  the  United  States  or 
England,  at  least  previously  to  the  adoption  of  universal  conscription. 
As  observed  in  a  recent  contribution  to  the  Scientific  American  (June 
9,  1917)  :  "There  is  an  increased  interest  everywhere  in  physical 
measurements  and  the  means  of  improving  them  when  they  are  below 
par."  But  it  is  properly  pointed  out  that  ''there  is  another  factor  besides 
height,  weight,  and  girth  of  trunk  or  limbs,  which  is  highly  important 
in  determining  the  military  value  of  a  soldier  in  the  field,  namely, 
endurance,  or  staying  power." 

INDEX  OF  VITAL  RESISTANCE 

The  correct  ascertainment  of  the  degree  of  disease  resistance  on  the 
one  hand  and  of  the  resistance  to  physical  and  physiological  fatigue  on 
the  other  are  as  yet  a  subject  unfortunately  merely  in  a  preliminary 
stage  of  qualified  investigation.  The  scientific  research  work  of  A.  F. 
Stanley  Kent  on  Industrial  Fatigue  by  physiological  methods  indicates  a 
direction  which  can  be  followed  to  much  practical  advantage  in  the 
more  rational  development  of  training  methods  for  new  recruits  and  of 
endurance  tests  for  mature  men  with  sufficient  military  experience  to 
make  such  tests  relatively  non-hazardous  to  health  and  life.  As 
observed  in  an  article  in  the  Scientific  American  on  Human  Measure- 
ments and  ''Resistance  Formulas,"  "The  various  corporal  measure- 
ments commonly  made,  such  as  height,  weight,  circumference  of  normal 
and  of  expanded  chest,  respiratory  amplitude,  dynamometric  force, 
girth  of  arms,  legs,  hips,  etc.,  taken  alone  represent  merely  separate 
elements  of  strength  and  development."  Among  the  various  formulae 
for  combining  these  factors  and  ascertaining  a  mathematical  in- 
dex of  comparative  robustness  the  one  most  generally  employed  and 
likely  to  yield  the  best  results  is  said  to  be  the  one  by  Pignet,  which  is 
briefly  stated  as  follows  : 

47 


T — (P+C),  in  which  T  equals  height  in  centimeters,  P  equals  weight  in  kilo- 
grams, and  C  equals  average  circumference  of  chest  in  centimeters.  For  a  man 
1.72  meters  tall,  weighing  68  kg.,  and  having  an  average  chest  measurement  of 
90  cm.  this  would  give  172— (68+90)  equal  to  14.  (5  ft.  7  in.  tall,  149.6  lbs., 
weight,  35.1  inches,  average  chest  measure.) 

This  index  is  used  at  the  present  time  in  Switzerland  for  the  rating 
of  recruits,  the  stamina  or  resistance  of  which  is  superior  to  the  average 
in  proportion  as  the  index  is  smaller,  and  the  larger  the  index  figures 
the  poorer  is  the  physical  constitution,  with  a  due  regard  of  the 
mathematical  correlation  of  the  more  important  anthropometric 
measurements.  The  following  table  shows  the  index  value  and  the 
physical  results,  according  to  the  Pignet  method,  as  stated  in  the 
Scientific  American  previously  referred  to: 

Index  Value  Result 

Low  equals  10  Very  good 

11  to  20  Good 

21  to  25  Average 

26  to  30  Weak 

31  to  35  Very  weak 

High  equals  35  Inadequate 

The  Pignet  index  has  recently  been  controlled  or  re-examined  by 
individual  measurements  of  more  than  a  thousand  young  men,  made 
by  Dr.  Fr.  M.  Messerli,  in  an  endeavor  to  further  perfect  a  system 
already  apparently  of  a  high  degree  of  intrinsic  usefulness.  According 
to  a  recent  number  of  the  Archives  d.  Sc.  phys.  et  nat.,  as  stated  in  the 
article  referred  to  in  the  Scientific  American,  Messerli  has  succeeded 
"in  rendering  it  more  precise  by  introducing  a  new  element :  the  average 
(B)  of  the  circumference  of  the  two  arms  (measured  in  the  middle  of 
the  arm  while  extended),  from  which  he  subtracts  the  original  formula 
of  Pignet.  The  formula  thus  reads  B— [T— (P  +  C)].  Taking  the 
individual  cited  above,  if  he  has  an  average  brachial  circumference  of 
25  centimeters,  then  his  numerical  index  would  equal  25 — [172 — 
(68 +  90)]  =11.  The  numerous  measurements  made  by  Dr.  Messerli 
cause  him  to  conclude  that  every  positive  result  may  be  regarded  as 
good  and  every  negative  result  as  inadequate,  the  figure  0  being  the 
limit  of  the  index  of  the  weak  individuals  (negative)  and  of  that  of 
the  strong  individuals  (positive)  ;  the  more  the  result  is  positive,  the 
more  the  individual  is  resistant;  the  more  negative  the  result,  the 
weaker  the  individual." 

LIMITED  VALUE  OF  RECRUITING  DATA 
These  preliminary  observations  indicate  the  very  limited  practical 
value  of  general  recruiting  statistics  and  anthropometric  averages  of 
height,  weight  and  chest  expansion  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the 
facts  of  supreme  importance  as  regards  the  physical  stamina  or  resisting 
power  of  the  recruiting  material  available  for  military  service.  All 
official  statistics  are  furthermore  subject  to  inherent  limitations  of 
trustworthiness  not  only  on  account  of  the  want  of  uniformity  in  the 

.48 


ascertainment  of  the  physical  proportions  of  recruits  in  different 
countries,  but  also  because  of  the  frequent  changes  in  military  rules 
and  regulations,  varying  widely  according  to  the  available  recruiting 
material  and  the  numbers  actually  required  to  meet  the  exigencies  of 
military  service.  Conclusions  frequently  advanced  to  the  effect  that 
the  physique  of  any  given  country  has  improved  or  deteriorated  on  the 
basis  of  recruiting  statistics  are  decidedly  misleading  and  every 
authority  on  military  statistics  rejects  unconditionally  the  assumption 
that  the  data  can  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  physical 
progress  or  decay.  The  older  recruiting  statistics  are  therefore  not 
comparable  with  modern  statistics,  and  even  these  can  be  utilized  for 
only  a  comparatively  short  period  of  time  and  a  few  of  the  more 
important  countries  of  the  world.  For  Germany  the  general  statistics 
are  perhaps  the  most  extensive,  but  on  account  of  the  fact  that 
the  scientific  details,  especially  as  regards  anthropometric  averages,  have 
not  been  made  public  by  the  Imperial  Government  they  fall  measurably 
short  in  practical  usefulness  of  the  corresponding  statistics  for  France, 
for  Scandinavia,  for  Italy,  etc. 

RACE  IN  RELATION  TO  PHYSICAL  PROPORTIONS 

Every  authority  on  anthropology  and  anthropometry  concedes  the 
supreme  importance  of  race  as  an  underlying  determining  condition  or 
consideration  in  the  physical  proportions  or  dimensions  of  the  recruit- 
ing material  under  consideration.  The  term  race  is  not  one  which 
permits  of  precise  definition,  for  entirely  pure  races  are  certainly  no 
longer  met  with  in  European  countries.  It  is  generally  held  that  the 
average  stature  or  the  distribution,  or  more  accurately,  perhaps,  the 
frequency  distribution,  of  height  according  to  age  and  sex,  is  more 
directly  determined  by  heredity  on  the  basis  of  racial  antecedents  than 
by  any  other  physical  factor  excepting  color,  hair,  skin  pigmenta- 
tion and  the  shape  and  size  of  the  skull.  Race,  in  however  crude  a 
sense. the  term  may  be  used,  is  largely  conditioned  by  the  locality  of 
birth  of  the  recruiting  material  examined,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
scientific  conclusiveness  the  ratio  of  rejections  for  physical  reasons 
or  the  anthropometric  data  ascertained  by  precise  methods  of  measur- 
ing should  be  accurately  correlated  to  the  place  of  birth  and  not  to  the 
place  of  residence.  Still  more  trustworthy  and  conclusive  would  be 
statistics  of  physique  according  to  ancestry,  which  for  practical  pur- 
poses might  be  limited  to  the  country  of  birth  of  the  mother.  This 
limitation  has  been  found  sufficient  in  mortality  investigations,  which 
exhibit  the  same  definite  relationship  between  disease  predisposition  or 
disease  resistance  on  the  basis  of  inherited  ancestral  traits  as  has  been 
shown  to  be  the  case  in  the  inheritance  of  physical  proportions  of  the 
body,  chiefly,  however,  in  the  average  stature  and  its  frequency  distri- 
bution as  determined  by  modern  mathematical  statistical  processes. 

49 


The  ratio  of  rejections  on  the  ground  of  unfitness  for  mihtary  service 
varies  widely  for  different  countries,  not  so  much  because  of  inherent 
differences  in  vitality,  physical  strength  or  disease  resistance,  as  on 
account  of  the  precise  rules  and  regulations  applicable  to  the  recruiting 
service,  subject  to  far-reaching  changes  from  time  to  time,  especially 
during  active  military  operations.  Not  only  is  the  ratio  of  rejection 
governed  by  physical,  physiological  and  pathological  considerations,  but, 
also,  by  social  or  economic  interests  precluding  the  advisability  of  using 
for  military  services  men  who  for  special  reasons  may  be  more  useful 
to  the  State  in  the  government  service  or  in  industry  and  private  life. 
These  considerations  obviously  must  vary  from  time  to  time,  and  quite 
materially  during  prolonged  periods  of  active  military  operations. 
In  countries  where  the  rule  of  conscription  applies  to  all  alike  at  a 
certain  minimum  age,  the  new  recruits  are,  of  course,  only  represented 
by  a  single  year  of  life,  for  illustration,  by  age  20,  except  in  so  far  as 
volunteers  may  be  drawn  upon  from  earlier  ages  or  as  those  temporarily 
rejected  may  require  to  be  re-examined  at  older  ages,  limited  usually, 
however,  to  only  a  short  period  of  years.  In  the  United  States  in  the 
future,  if  conscription  continues,  only  the  attained  age  21  will  require 
consideration,  except  in  so  far  as  new  rules  and  regulations  may  provide 
for  the  re-examination  of  those  rejected  or  temporarily  declined  at  sub- 
sequent years.  Since  the  minimum  age  of  recruits  varies  for  different 
countries  and  since  the  same  conclusion  applies  to  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions regarding  subsequent  re-examinations,  the  statistics  for  any  two 
countries  are  not  strictly  comparable  and  in  some  cases  not  at  all. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  PRUSSIA 
In  Prussia,  during  the  year  1850,  out  of  every  100  recruits  examined, 
64  were  temporarily  relieved  from  duty,  while  36  were  accepted, 
subject  to  examination.  Of  those  accepted  11.2  per  cent,  were 
rejected  as  entirely  unfit,  and  10.8  per  cent,  as  unfit  for  the 
field  service,  so  that  of  those  examined  as  required  for  service  during 
the  current  year,  22  per  cent,  were  finally  declined.  Of  the 
remainder  28.1  per  cent,  were  assigned  to  the  supplementary  reserves 
and  0.4  per  cent,  were  declined  for  military  service,  including  reasons 
involving  personal  integrity.  An  additional  4.6  per  cent,  of  persons 
otherwise  qualified  were  for  domestic  and  other  reasons  assigned  to 
the  supplementary  reserves,  which  with  9.2  per  cent,  of  volunteers  and 
35.6  per  cent,  finally  accepted,  constitute  49.4  per  cent,  of  the  recruits 
examined  as  ultimately  considered  fit  and  useful  for  active  service  in 
the  field  (it  is  not  entirely  clear,  but  apparently  the  4.6  per  cent,  were 
considered  fit  for  military  service  in  the  field  when  so  required  and  to  be 
drawn  from  the  supplementary  reserves).  When  these  statistics  for  1850 
are  compared  with  those  for  1860,  it  appears  that  profound  changes  had 
been  introduced  in  the  meantime,  so  that  in  the  aggregate  the  general 

50 


results  were  materially  modified.  During  the  entire  period  1847-62  the 
maximum  rate  of  acceptance  for  military  training  was  55.6  per  cent,  in 
1859,  and  the  minimum  42.3  per  cent,  in  1856.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
period  the  ratio  was  43.8  per  cent,  and  at  the  end  of  the  period  48.5 
per  cent.  The  combined  ratio  of  rejections  as  entirely  unfit,  however, 
reached  the  lowest  figure  in  1862,  or  only  10.1  per  cent.,  against  20,7 
per  cent,  in  1847.  These  earlier  statistics  of  the  Prussian  military 
service  are,  of  course,  of  only  historical  interest  at  the  present  time. 
They  are  not  conclusive  as  regards  the  physical  changes  in  the 
population  during  the  intervening  period  and  do  not  justify 
any  conclusions  whatever  concerning  the  possible  physical  progress 
or  deterioration  of  the  German  people.  One  of  the  most  impor- 
tant variables  in  recruiting  experience  is  the  modification  in  the  mini- 
mum standard  of  height,  which  in  a  measure  depends  upon  the  needs 
of  the  several  arms  of  the  service,  in  that  usually  a  lower  height 
is  permissible  for  the  cavalry  than  for  the  infantry  and  artillery. 
In  Bavaria  between  1853-65  the  rejections  on  account  of  failure  to 
conform  to  the  minimum  standard  varied  between  5.1  per  cent,  in 
1855  and  1857  and  3.8  per  cent,  in  1865.  It  would  obviously  be  mis- 
leading from  these  statistics  to  conclude  that  there  had  been  a 
physical  decline  in  the  Prussian  or  Bavarian  populations  during  the 
period  under  review,  since  the  changes  in  military  rules  and  regulations 
as  regards  the  minimum  standard  of  height  in  part  at  least  explain  the 
higher  rejection  ratio  during  the  earlier  in  comparison  with  the  later 
years. 

STATURE  OF  GERMAN  CONSCRIPTS 
For  more  recent  periods  the  German  statistics  are  equally  interesting, 
but  far  from  conclusive.  Innumerable  changes  in  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions appertaining  to  the  examination  of  recruits  and  the  acceptance  or 
rejection  of  the  same  for  military  service  make  exact  comparison  of 
any  one  year  with  another  of  doubtful  intrinsic  value.  The  gen- 
eral average  rate  of  acceptance  in  the  German  conscript  recruit- 
ing experience  is  given  by  Claassen  as  55.5  per  cent.  In  addition, 
14.9  per  cent,  are  temporarily  rejected  but  considered  subsequently 
qualified,  and  22.9  per  cent,  are  assigned  to  the  reserve  as  being  of  a 
restricted  degree  of  ability  for  military  service.  No  precise  information 
is  available  as  regards  the  reasons  which  govern  in  the  respective 
assignments  to  the  temporary  or  permanent  reserves,  but  it  is  obvious 
that  the  former  are  considered  more  qualified  for  active  military  service 
than  the  latter,  although  both  groups,  representing  a  combined  percent- 
age of  37.8  of  those  subjected  to  final  examination,  are  below  the 
required  standard  of  current  army  service  represented  by  the  55.5  per 
cent,  unconditionally  accepted.  Of  the  remainder  6.6  per  cent,  are 
considered  entirely  unfit  for  military  service  for  physical  or  reasons 

51 


other  than  obvious  moral  grounds,  probably  convicts  and  persons  other- 
wise undesirable,  representing  0.2  per  cent,  of  the  conscripts  subjected 
to  final  examination.  These  averages  are  based  upon  the  returns  for 
1906-07,  which  are  apparently  normal  and  not  influenced  by  urgent  con- 
siderations of  impending  war. 

The  German  rate  of  acceptance  is,  however,  in  a  large  measure 
determined  by  the  number  available  for  military  service.  That 
number  naturally  bears  a  direct  relation  to  the  authorized 
effective  strength  of  the  army.  The  rapid  growth  in  the  German 
population  had  made  it  possible  to  select  conscripts  with  much  greater 
care  than  in  certain  other  countries,  especially  France,  where  the  avail- 
able material  has  rarely  if  ever  within  recent  years  been  fully  sufficient 
to  meet  the  required  complement  in  accordance  with  the  authorized 
strength  of  the  French  army.  For  this  reason  the  French  statistics 
cannot  be  considered  strictly  comparable  with  the  German  statistics, 
and  the  fact  that  the  average  rate  of  acceptance  was  72  per  cent,  in 
France,  against  66  per  cent,  in  Germany,  is  not  evidence  of  the  physical 
inferiority  of  the  German  recruiting  material  and  its  unsuitability  for 
miHtary  service.  The  discussion  by  Claassen  includes  the  average  rate 
of  acceptance  for  various  countries,  but  for  different  periods  of  time,  all, 
however,  subsequent  to  1899.  For  Ryssia  the  rate  is  given  as  85  per 
cent;  for  Norway,  76  per  cent.;  for  Sweden  (Province  of  Dalarne), 
75  per  cent. ;  for  France,  72  per  cent. ;  for  Switzerland,  58.5  per  cent., 
and  for  Germany,  55.5  per  cent. 

Another  even  more  important  factor  which  requires  consideration 
is  the  question  as  to  how  the  number  finally  examined  is  constituted  or 
determined  for  military  purposes.  If,  for  illustration,  those  who  are 
seriously  impaired  in  physique  or  who  are  mentally  unsound  or  who 
are  below  height  are  not  required  to  present  themselves  at  all  but  are 
excused  on  grounds  sufficient  to  a  lay  official,  then  the  rate  of  rejec- 
tions on  final  examinations  would,  of  course,  be  correspondingly 
diminished.  It  is  generally  understood  that  this  is  the  case  in  France, 
although  the  rate  of  final  rejections  as  entirely  unfit  is  10.1  per  cent., 
against  6.6  per  cent,  for  Germany.  The  interpretation  of  foreign 
recruiting  statistics  is  unfortunately  further  impaired  by  a  strong  bias 
which  precludes  to  a  considerable  degree  the  practical  use  of  the  data 
available  in  a  summarized  form. 

INCONCLUSIVE  ARMY  REJECTION  DATA 

The  causes  of  rejection  in  recruiting  as  in  the  case  of  the  so-called 
causes  of  death  are  for  statistical  purposes  limited  to  assumed  primary 
or  determining  causes,  while  secondary,  although  possibly  equally 
important,  causes  of  rejection  are  obscured  in  the  prevailing  method  of 
statistical  tabulation  and  analysis.  If,  for  illustration,  a  recruit  is 
rejected  because  of  deficiency  of  stature,  it  does  not  at  all  follow  that 

52 


he  would  not  also  have  been  rejected  on  account  of  an  organic  impair- 
ment of  the  heart,  or  mental  deficiency.  The  causes  of  rejection, 
therefore,  as  presented  in  the  usual  form  in  army  medical  reports  are 
not  conclusive  evidence  as  regards  the  existence  or  co-existence  of 
impairments,  defects  and  deficiencies  of  a  physical  or  pathological 
nature.  Limited  to  the  crude  method  of  statistical  presentation,  the 
recruiting  statistics  according  to  causes  of  rejection  are  therefore 
merely  indicative  of  the  determining  causes  or  reasons  sufficient  for 
military  purposes  to  justify  the  unconditional  rejection  of  the  recruit 
as  unfit  for  military  service  in  time  of  peace  or  war.  For  a  consider- 
able number  of  specific  causes  of  rejection,  such  as  goitre,  for  illustra- 
tion, or  flatfoot,  the  available  statistics  are  reasonably  conclusive,  and 
usually  in  conformity  to  the  known  facts  of  local  frequency  of  special 
diseases  or  special  forms  of  physical  disability.  In  the  German  experi- 
ence for  the  period  1904-08,  out  of  every  100  recruits  subjected  to  final 
medical  examination  an  aggregate  of  49  were  rejected  or  de- 
cHned,  or,  respectively,  19.3  per  cent,  on  account  of  general  debility, 
72  per  cent,  on  account  of  internal  diseases,  etc.,  4.6  per  cent,  on 
account  of  diseases,  or  defects  or  deficiencies  of  the  eyes  and  ears,  11.9 
per  cent,  on  account  of  external  diseases  and  malformations,  0.8  per 
cent,  on  account  of  deficiency  in  stature,  and  5.2  per  cent,  for  other 
causes.  The  details  are  of  exceptional  practical  importance,  but  abso- 
lute accuracy  in  the  conclusions  is  precluded  by  the  fact  that  the  term 
"general  debility,"  which  in  the  German  experience  accounts  for  19.3  per 
cent,  of  those  permanently  rejected  on  final  examination,  includes  nu- 
merous causes  and  conditions  more  or  less  complicating  other  causes 
and  conditions  specifically  referred  to  as  reasons  for  final  rejection,  but 
chiefly  retarded  bodily  development,  general  weakness,  partly  in  conse- 
quence of  previous  diseases  or  injuries,  deficiency  in  bone  or  muscle 
formation,  deficiency  in  chest  development,  etc.  There  are  reasons  for 
believing  that  in  a  number  of  cases,  sufficient  to  require  special  consid- 
eration, the  apparent  unfitness  for  military  service  was  after  all  only  of 
a  temporary  nature,  suggestive  of  the  advantage  of  special  training  or 
curative  processes,  etc.  In  the  majority  of  cases  the  reasons  for  de- 
clining applicants  on  the  ground  stated  have  probably  much  to  do  with 
retarded  physical  or  physiological  development,  not  only  of  the 
body  as  a  whole  but  of  the  separate  organs  and  parts,  subsequently 
successfully  overcome  by  the  attainment  of  normal  growth  and  develop- 
ment during  the  remaining  years  previous  to  complete  physical  ma- 
turity. 

REJECTION  DATA  OF  THE  GERMAN  ARMY 

In  the  order  of  their  importance  the  reasons  for  final  rejection  on 
the  ground  of  complete  and  permanent  military  unfitness  in  the  German 
army  during  the  years  1904-08,  aside  from  the  rejections  on  account 

53 


of  general  debility,  accounting  for  19.3  per  cent,  of  the  total  number 
examined,  the  first  cause  of  importance  is  rejections  on  account  of 
diseases  or  impairment  of  the  heart  and  circulatory  organs,  accounting 
for  3  per  cent.,  followed  by  minor  defects  but  of  sufficient  military 
importance  to  justify  rejection,  also  equivalent  to  about  3  per  cent.,  and 
recognized  defects  and  deformities  of  the  extremities,  equivalent  to  2.9 
per  cent.  Of  the  remainder  of  principal  causes  of  rejection,  flatfoot 
accounted  for  2.1  per  cent.,  hernia  for  2.1  per  cent.,  errors  of  refrac- 
tion for  2.0  per  cent.,  varicose  veins,  etc.,  for  1.8  per  cent.,  and  physical 
deformities,  chiefly  spinal  curvature,  for  1.8  per  cent.  Goitre  in  the 
German  experience  is  of  relatively  slight  importance,  accounting  for 
only  0,4  per  cent.,  varying,  however,  between  a  minimum  of  0.3  per 
cent,  in  the  Prussian  army  and  1.2  per  cent,  in  the  army  of  Wiirttem- 
berg.  Bad  teeth  accounted  for  only  0.21  per  cent.,  rheumatism  and  gout 
for  only  0.17  per  cent.,  and  corpulence  for  0.14. 

Of  special  military  significance  is  the  relatively  high  rate  of  rejec- 
tions on  account  of  flatfoot,  which  varies  from  a  minimum  of  1.1  per 
cent,  for  the  Bavarian  to  a  maximum  of  2.4  per  cent,  for  the  Prussian 
army.  Disease  of  the  lungs  caused  a  rejection  rate  of  only  1  per  cent., 
with  but  a  slight  range  in  variations  in  the  rate  for  the  fundamental 
constituent  armies  of  the  German  Empire,  or,  respectively,  Prussia, 
Bavaria,  Saxony  and  Wiirttemberg. 

The  changes  in  the  rejection  rate  during  recent  years  in  the  German 
army  experience,  or  specifically  during  the  period  1904-10,  are  not 
suggestive  of  an  improvement  in  the  physical  type  or  the  disease  resist- 
ance of  the  recruits,  since  the  ratio  of  the  unfit  for  military  service  has 
gradually  increased  from  48.7  per  cent,  in  1904  to  54.3  per  cent,  in 
1910.  The  increase  has  chiefly  fallen  upon  the  groups  of  rejections  for 
general  debility,  from  18.2  to  22.3  per  cent.,  diseases  of  the  heart 
and  circulatory  organs,  from  2.7  to  3.8  per  cent.,  and  diseases  of 
the  lungs,  from  0.9  to  1.4  per  cent.  The  rejections  on  account  of 
deficiency  in  stature  declined  from  0.73  per  cent,  to  0.61  per  cent. 
These  changes,  however,  in  the  recruiting  results  can  no  more,  as 
elsewhere  observed,  be  relied  upon  as  evidence  of  physical  deterioration 
than  that,  conversely,  a  decHning  rate  of  rejection  for  specified  causes 
can  be  safely  utilized  for  the  purpose  of  proving  physical  advance. 
The  rates  are  governed  primarily  by  military  considerations,  which  vary 
with  army  requirements  almost  from  year  to  year.  The  rates  are  also 
affected  by  improvements  in  methods  of  physical  diagnosis,  in  connec- 
tion with  which  to  an  increasing  extent  use  is  made  of  instruments  of 
precision,  in  place  of  entire  reliance  upon  the  objective  and  subjective 
symptoms  ascertained  by  non-instrumental  methods  in  physical  and 
medical  examination. 


54 


GEOGRAPHICAL  VARIATIONS  IN  THE  CAUSES 
OF  REJECTIONS 
Most  valuable  for  practical  purposes  is  the  analysis  of  the  German 
recruiting  statistics  according  to  causes  of  rejection  by  army  corps, 
which  broadly  correspond  to  the  principal  geographical  and  topo- 
graphical divisions  of  the  Empire.  These  statistics  indicate  with 
approximate  accuracy  the  local  excessive  incidence  of  physical  or  other 
impairments  sufficiently  serious  to  cause  the  final  rejection  of  recruits 
for  military  service.  Thus,  for  illustration,  in  the  ratio  of  rejections 
for  diseases  of  the  lungs  during  the  period  1904-08  the  maximum  rate 
was  20.8  per  1,000  for  the  55th  Brigade  of  the  14th  Army  Corps, 
whereas  the  minimum  rate  was  only  3.8  per  1,000  for  the  21st  Brigade 
of  the  6th  Army  Corps  (Prussia).  For  flatfoot  the  rejection  rate 
varied  between  a  maximum  of  44.6  per  1,000  in  the  33rd  Brigade  of 
the  9th  Army  Corps  to  a  minimum  of  only  6.2  per  1,000  for  the  45th 
Brigade  of  the  12th  Army  Corps  (Saxony).  For  goitre  the  rejection 
rate  varied  between  non-occurrence  in  the  35th  Brigade  of  the  9th 
Army  Corps  to  a  maximum  of  23.2  per  1,000  in  the  4th  Brigade  of  the 
1st  Army  Corps  (Bavaria).  When  shown  in  graphic  form  these  rates 
of  rejection  according  to  locality  furnish  evidence  of  exceptional  value 
in  the  practical  furtherance  of  public  health  movements,  suggestive  of 
the  urgency  of  highly  specialized  local  inquiries  regarding  underlying 
causative  or  contributory  conditions  or  circumstances  possibly  within 
the  range  of  prevention  and  control.  To  be  scientifically  conclusive  it, 
however,  is  necessary  that  the  rejection  rates  should  be  calculated  ac- 
cording to  the  place  of  birth  or  at  least  the  usual  or  prolonged  residence 
of  the  examined  recruit  rather  than  according  to  the  recruiting  locality, 
which  might  have  no  bearing  upon  the  causative  conditions  or  circum- 
stances responsible  for  the  frequency  of  certain  defects  and  deficiencies, 
such  as  goitre,  flatfoot,  etc.  To  ignore  racial  antecedents  in  recruiting 
statistics  is  as  certain  as  in  mortality  statistics  to  lead  to  seriously 
erroneous  results;  for  broad  general  averages  derived  from  a  hetero- 
geneous group  of  persons  examined  cannot  possibly  serve  as  a  standard 
properly  applicable  to  widely  varying  constituent  parts. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  AUSTRO-HUNGARY 

No  country  illustrates  the  importance  of  racial  consideration  more 
conclusively  than  the  Austro-Hungarian  Monarchy.  The  statistics 
available  are  neither  for  very  recent  years  nor  in  such  detail  as  to 
justify  their  use  in  comparison  with  the  returns  for  adjacent  European 
countries.  The  tendency  has  been  apparently  towards  a  diminution  in 
the  proportions  rejected  on  account  of  deficiency  in  stature  and  a 
lesser  proportion  of  recruits  of  short  stature  and  a  larger  proportion  of 
those  above  the  average  in  height  according  to  age.  The  rejection  rates 
by  causes  are  based  upon  the  numbers  examined  above  the  minimum 

55 


stature,  which  was  155.4  cm.  in  1888,  but  reduced  to  153  cm.  in  1889. 
Of  those  examined  from  1894  to  1905,  some  43  per  cent,  were  declined 
on  account  of  general  weakness,  3.3  per  cent,  for  varicose  veins, 
3.1  per  cent,  for  intestinal  dislocations  (hernia),  2.8  per  cent,  for 
goitre  and  2.4  per  cent,  for  flatfoot.  The  proportion  rejected  on 
account  of  errors  of  refraction  was  0.7  per  cent.,  and  for  other 
diseases  of  the  eyes  1.4  per  cent.  Defective  dentition  caused  a  re- 
jection rate  of  0.4  per  cent,  and  valvular  affections  of  the  heart 
0.24  per  cent.  It  is  remarkable  that  tuberculosis  of  the  lungs  caused 
a  rejection  rate  of  only  0.08  per  cent.,  which  may  be  accepted  as 
evidence  that  by  some  other  previous  process  of  selection  those  pre- 
disposed to  pulmonary  tuberculosis  did  not  come  up  for  final  mil- 
itary examination  at  all.  The  general  rejection  rate  is  relatively 
high  for  Austria,  but  the  rules  and  regulations  have  so  frequently  been 
changed  during  the  last  forty  years  that  no  definite  conclusions  can  be 
safely  advanced,  excepting  possibly  for  certain  clearly  recognized  causes. 
Rejections  for  general  debility  increased  from  27.9  in  1870  to  44.3  per 
cent,  in  1905.  All  forms  of  tuberculosis  decreased  from  0.61  per  cent. 
to  0.57  per  cent.  Flatfloot  decreased  from  3.4  per  cent,  to  2.8  per 
cent.,  while  goitre  decreased  from  4.7  per  cent,  in  1871  to  2.9  per  cent, 
in  1905.  There  was  a  remarkable  reduction  in  the  rejection  rate  on 
account  of  intermittent  malarial  fever  from  0.12  per  cent,  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  period  to  0.02  per  cent,  at  the  end.  Specific  rejections  for 
malaria  were  highest  in  the  southern  province  of  Zara  of  Dalmatia  (1.15 
per  cent.),  whiie  rejections  on  account  of  goitre  were  highest  in  the 
Innsbruck  district  of  Tyrol  (9.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  examined).  These 
averages  are  for  the  decade  ending  with  1905,  and  given  by  regional 
divisions  of  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire,  but  not  in  such  detail  as 
the  German  statistics,  regardless  of  equally  wide  variations  in  local, 
racial  and  topographical  conditions. 

The  Austro-Hungarian  statistics  are  of  special  interest  as  regards 
variations  in  stature  according  to  race,  it  being  shown  that  per  thousand 
examined  during  1894-1905  in  the  Zara  district  of  Dalmatia  the  propor- 
tion of  conscripts  below  153  cm.  was  only  5  per  1,000,  or  the  lowest  on 
record,  against  60  per  1,000  in  the  Przemysl  district.  Conversely  the 
tallest  races  were  met  with  in  Dalmatia  and  Croatia,  or,  respectively, 
53.2  and  31.2  per  cent,  of  171  cm.  and  over,  against  a  general  average 
of  22.2  per  cent,  for  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire  and  14.2  per  cent, 
for  the  district  of  Przemysl.  Croatians  are  the  tallest,  followed  by  the 
Czechs,  Moravians  and  Slavs.  The  Germans  occupy  an  average  po- 
sition, while  the  Roumanians,  Magyars  and  Ruthenians  are  distinctly 
below  the  average,  returning,  in  any  event,  a  lesser  proportion  of  those 
171  cm.  in  stature  and  over.  The  Poles  show  the  largest  proportion 
under  160  cm.  and  the  smallest  proportion  of  171  cm.  and  over.  The 
Austrian   statistics   do   not   justify   the  assumption   frequently   given 

56 


utterance  to  that  short  and  medium  sized  men  are  in  the  main  stronger 
and  more  suitable  for  military  service  than  tall  recruits,  or  at  least  this 
conclusion  is  not  the  fact,  according  to  Schwiening,  for  Germany 
and  Austro-Hungary. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  FRANCE 
The  recruiting  statistics  for  France  extend  over  a  long  period  of 
years,  but  there  have  been  so  many  changes  in  rules  and  regulations 
that  conclusions  require  to  be  arrived  at  with  extreme  caution.  There 
has  apparently  been  a  decrease  in  the  proportion  of  recruits  below  the 
minimum  standard,  but  the  available  data  are  of  more  or  less  doubtful 
intrinsic  trustworthiness.  The  rate  of  rejections  on  the  ground  of 
entire  unfitness  is,  as  previously  stated,  relatively  low  for  France  com- 
pared with  Germany,  but  the  difference  is  probably  more  attributable  to 
lax  rules  and  regulations  or  to  the  urgent  necessity  of  bringing  the 
authorized  strength  of  the  army  to  its  full  quota  rather  than  to  a 
superior  physique  or  physiological  condition.  In  1901  the  provision  as 
regards  minimum  stature  was  removed  and  recruits  even  below  154  cm. 
were  accepted.  It  is  explained  that  in  consequence  of  changes  in  the 
rules  and  regulations  by  1902  the  proportion  of  accepted  recruits  had 
mcreased  to  87.3  per  cent.,  and  the  high  rate  was  obviously  indicative  of 
the  urgent  demand  of  the  army  to  make  use  of  the  largest  possible 
proportion  of  the  available  recruiting  material.  During  1906-10  the  aver- 
age ratio  of  rejections  on  account  of  entire  unfitness  for  military  service 
was  9.6  per  cent,  for  France,  having  been  as  high  as  14.8  per  cent,  for 
the  military  district  of  Rennes  and  as  low  as  7.1  per  cent,  for  the 
military  district  of  Nancy. 

During  the  period  1907-10  the  ratio  of  rejections  for  all  causes  was 

9.8  per  cent.,  of  which  3.3  per  cent,  was  on  account  of  general  debility ; 
1  per  cent,  on  account  of  diseases  of  the  nervous  system;  0.8  per  cent, 
on  account  of  diseases  of  the  eye ;  0.36  per  cent,  on  account  of  diseases 
of  the  ear  and  0.2  per  cent,  on  account  of  diseases  of  the  respiratory 
organs.  The  data  are  not  in  sufificient  detail  to  justify  definite  conclu- 
sions and  they  are  complicated  by  the  fact  that  the  French  figures  are 
given  separately  for  those  entirely  unfit  and  those  useful  for  auxiliary 
military  service,  which  constitute  4.2  per  cent,  of  those  rejected  for  all 
causes.  In  more  detail,  it  may  be  said  in  this  connection  that  combining 
the  two  groups  of  the  entirely  and  the  largely  unfit  for  military  service 
the  rejection  rates  for  the  period  1907-10  were  as  follows:  Diseases  of 
the  bones  and  extremities,  2.4  per  cent. ;  physical  weakness  or  debility, 

1.9  per  cent.;  tuberculosis,  1.2  per  cent.;  varicose  veins,  0.9  per  cent.; 
errors  of  refraction,  0.8  per  cent. ;  other  diseases  of  the  eye,  0.6  per 
cent.,  and  diseases  of  the  heart,  0.5  per  cent.  Rejections  on  account  of 
hernia  amounted  to  0.4  per  cent,  and  of  goitre  0.1  per  cent. 
Retrospectively  the  statistics  for  France  cover  the  period  1873-1910, 

57 


but,  as  stated  before,  the  data  require  to  be  used  with  extreme  caution. 
In  view  of  the  alleged  prevalence  of  tuberculosis  among  the  French 
troops  during  the  present  war,  it  is  extremely  significant  to  find  that  the 
ratio  of  rejections  for  tuberculosis  of  the  lungs  increased  from  0.23 
per  cent,  in  1885  to  0.59  per  cent,  in  1905.  For  more  recent  years  not 
all  of  the  details  are  available.  Goitre  of  all  forms  decreased  from  0.5 
per  cent,  in  1887  to  0.1  per  cent,  during  1907-10.  Hernia  decreased 
from  2.7  per  cent,  in  1887  to  0.4  per  cent,  during  1907-10,  while 
fiatfoot  decreased  from  0.46  per  cent,  in  1887  to  0.19  per  cent,  in  1905. 
There  was  a  decided  decline  in  rejections  on  account  of  general  debility, 
from  3.0  per  cent,  in  1873  to  0.7  per  cent,  in  1905;  but  during  the 
period  1907-10  the  rate  increased  quite  considerably,  or,  specifically, 
to  1.6  per  cent.,  a  figure  not  reached  before  since  1882.  There  are 
reasons  for  believing  that  this  apparently  considerable  decline  in  the 
frequency  of  general  debility  is  more  apparent  than  real,  and  that  in  all 
probability  the  increasing  demand  for  the  largest  possible  number  of 
acceptable  recruits  accounts  for  the  falling  off  in  the  rejection  rate, 
applying  to  a  group  of  physical  defects  difficult  of  exact  diagnosis  or 
adjudication  for  recruiting  purposes. 

The  frequency  of  tuberculosis  in  France  among  recruits  has  been  as- 
certained for  the  different  army  corps  according  to  departments,  and  a 
startling  range  in  the  variation  of  the  local  incidence  has  been  disclosed, 
the  accuracy  of  which  has  unhappily  been  confirmed  by  the  experience 
during  the  early  part  of  the  present  war.  The  highest  ratio  of  tubercu- 
losis is  met  with  throughout  the  Northern  Department,  but  chiefly  in  the 
Department  of  the  Northwest.  In  contrast,  the  frequency  of  heart  dis- 
ease or  organic  heart  impairment  was  decidedly  more  common  in  the 
more  or  less  mountainous  provinces.  The  proportion  of  recruits  of  a 
deficient  stature  was  lowest  in  the  Northeastern  Department  of 
France.  And  approximately  this  conclusion  holds  good  for  the  Middle 
Departments,  while  in  the  Northwestern  section  and  the  West  and 
South,  practically  throughout,  the  percentage  of  recruits  below  162  cm. 
was  below  the  general  average.  Proportionately  the  largest  number  of 
short  recruits  came  from  the  Bretagne,  as  well  as  from  the  Southwest, 
chiefly  Gascogne  and  Guiene. 

VARIATIONS  OF  STATURE  OF  EUROPEAN  ARMIES 
Schwiening  gives  a  table  of  percentages  for  four  different  European 
countries,  according  to  which  out  of  every  100  recruits  examined  the 
following  were  of  the  proportion  of  less  than  160  cm.  in  stature: 
Wiirttemberg,  11.8  per  cent.;  Prussia,  13.0  per  cent.;  Bavaria,  14.7  per 
cent.,  and  Austro-Hungary,  22.9  per  cent.  The  proportion  of  tallest 
recruits,  or  such  as  had  a  stature  of  170  cm.  and  over,  was  highest  in 
Prussia,  31.1  per  cent.,  followed  by  Wiirttemberg,  with  27.7  per  cent., 
Bavaria,  27.1  per  cent.,  and  Austro-Hungary,  22.1  per  cent. 

58 


Claassen  gives  another  comparison  according  to  which  the  proportion 
of  soldiers  or  recruits  of  less  than  165  cm.  in  stature  was  for 
German  soldiers  in  1906  29.8  per  cent.,  for  German  recruits  during 
1899-1903  40.2  per  cent.,  and  for  French  recruits  during  1906  43.2  per 
cent.  The  proportion  of  tall  men,  or  those  170  cm.  or  over,  was  largest 
among  German  soldiers,  or  35.7  per  cent.,  followed  by  German  recruits, 
with  29.6  per  cent.,  and  French  recruits,  with  25.6  per  cent.  Evidently 
such  comparative  anthropometric  averages  must  be  used  with  extreme 
caution  and  upon  a  thorough  understanding  that  the  statistics  apply 
either  to  soldiers  or  to  recruits,  and  if  to  the  latter  whether  the  averages 
apply  to  accepted  recruits  or  to  the  entire  recruiting  material  sub- 
jected to  a  preliminary  physical  examination. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  ITALY 

The  available  recruiting  statistics  for  Italy  are  for  the  period  1875- 
1909.  The  rejection  rate  has  varied  considerably,  between  a  maximum  of 
29.7  per  cent,  of  those  examined  in  1906  and  a  minimum  of  17.7  per 
cent,  of  those  examined  in  1882.  The  fluctuations  in  rates,  however,  are 
such  as  to  make  it  evident  that  the  results  are  strongly  influenced  by  re- 
cruiting requirements.  The  rejection  rate  on  account  of  deficiency  in 
height  has  changed  from  a  maximum  of  10.2  per  cent,  in  1876  to  4.2  per 
cent,  in  1909,  which  is  the  lowest  rate  on  record  for  the  period.  There 
has  been  an  increase  in  the  rate  of  rejections  on  account  of  dis- 
ease from  a  minimum  of  10.1  per  cent,  in  1882  to  24.8  per  cent, 
in  1906.  For  the  year  1909  the  rate,  however,  was  only  20.2  per  cent. 
The  practice  prevails  in  Italy  of  temporarily  declining  recruits  who 
apparently  remain  subject  to  further  examination  and  possible  accept- 
ance. The  rate  of  such  rejections  for  the  year  1909  was  28  per  cent, 
of  the  total  number  examined.  In  this  group  also  the  rejections  on 
account  of  deficiency  in  stature  during  recent  years  have  been  con- 
siderably below  the  former  average,  the  rate  having  been  1.4  per  cent,  in 
1909,  against  a  maximum  of  5.3  per  cent,  in  1882.  That  these  statistics 
cannot  be  relied  upon  as  measurable  evidence  of  physical  deterioration 
is  made  clear  by  the  fact  that,  while  in  1881  the  rejection  rate  on 
account  of  deficiency  in  stature  was  3.3  per  cent.,  it  was  5.3  per  cent, 
in  1883,  and  only  2  per  cent,  in  1884. 

The  aggregate  rate  of  acceptance  was  as  high  as  6Z.Z  per  cent,  in 
1877,  and  as  low  as  41.8  per  cent,  in  1906 ;  but  there  was  an  increase  to 
44.0  per  cent,  in  1907,  43.4  per  cent,  in  1908,  and  47.7  per  cent,  in  1909. 
Evidently  the  rates  have  no  direct  bearing  upon  the  question  of  physical 
deterioration  or  improvement.  The  Italian  statistics  are  impaired  by  the 
increase  in  the  proportion  of  those  who  were  absent ;  accounted  for  in  a 
large  measure  by  the  enormous  Italian  emigration.  The  statistics  of  defi- 
ciency in  height  are  affected  by  the  law  of  1882,  which  fixed  the  mini- 
mum stature  at  from  154  to  156  cm.,  but  the  maximum  was  reduced  from 

59 


156  to  155  in  1883.  The  law  of  1889  changed  the  chest  measurements, 
and  a  chest  circumference  of  75  cm.  or  less  made  rejection  permanent 
and  from  75  to  80  cm.  temporarily  effective.  The  minimum  of  75  cm. 
was  changed  in  1896  to  77  cm.  It  is  held  that  the  increase  in  the  rejection 
rate  cannot  be  considered  conclusive  evidence  regarding  the  physical 
deterioration  of  the  Italian  recruiting  element.  The  increase  is  largely 
explained  by  changes  in  the  rules  and  regulations  and  more  rigid 
methods  of  examination.  The  rejection  rate  has  varied  widely  from 
an  average  of  39.6  per  cent,  for  the  country  as  a  whole  during  the 
period  1906-08 ;  a  minimum  of  29  per  cent,  in  the  Province  of  Lazio 
and  a  maximum  of  62.9  per  cent,  in  the  Province  of  Sardinia.  In  a 
general  way  the  highest  proportion  of  acceptance  was  in  the  middle 
and  northeast  of  Italy,  and  the  lowest  proportion  in  southern  Italy  and 
in  the  northwest  Province  of  Lombardy.  The  rejections  on  ac- 
count of  minimum  stature  were  lowest  in  the  Province  of  Venetia,  or 
2.5  per  cent.,  and  highest  in  the  Province  of  Sardinia,  or  20.4  per 
cent.  For  all  Italy  the  rejection  rate  on  account  of  minimum  stature 
during  1906-08  was  6.7  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  examined. 

MEDICAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  ITALIAN  ARMY 

The  medical  causes  of  rejection  were  as  follows:  General  physical 
debility  accounted  for  5.14  per  cent,  of  examined  recruits;  deficiency 
of  chest  formation,  respiratory  function,  etc.,  4.05  per  cent. ;  and 
scrofula,  anemia,  weakness,  etc.,  1.96  per  cent.,  a  combined  aggregate 
of  11.15  per  cent.  Following  these  general  causes,  diseases  of  the  eye, 
including  errors  of  refraction,  accounted  for  2.07  per  cent.,  diseases  of 
the  extremities  and  of  the  bones,  for  1.94  per  cent,  hernia,  for  1.53  per 
cent.,  goitre  for  1.23  per  cent.,  and  spinal  curvature  and  physical 
defects  of  the  chest,  for  1.21  per  cent. 

During  the  period  1878-1909  there  were  important  changes  in 
the  rejection  rates  of  Italian  recruits  for  specified  causes,  but  the  data 
require  to  be  interpreted  with  extreme  caution.  Thus,  for  illustration, 
the  rejections  for  general  physical  deficiency  were  6.07  per  cent,  in 
1895,  12.57  per  cent,  in  1896,  and  8.61  per  cent,  in  1897.  In  1906  the 
rate  was  13.2  per  cent.;  in  1907,  11.4  per  cent.;  in  1908,  10.6  per  cent., 
and  in  1909,  9.0  per  cent.  These  rates  evidently  have  no  direct  bearing 
upon  a  tendency  towards  physical  deterioration  or  advance,  as  the  case 
may  be.  Goitre,  however,  shows  a  distinct  rate  of  increase,  from  a 
minimum  of  0.56  per  cent,  in  1883  to  a  maximum  of  1.42  per  cent,  in 
1905.  Subsequently  to  that  year  the  rate  is  shown  to  have  gradually 
declined  to  0.89  per  cent,  in  1909.  Lung  diseases  show  a  perceptible 
decline,  but  heart  diseases  show  a  decided  increase.  This,  however, 
may  be  largely  in  response  to  the  more  thorough  examination  of 
recruits.  Hernia  has  shown  a  slight  increase  from  1.46  per  cent,  in 
1878  to  1.64  per  cent,  in  1909.     The  conclusion  is  advanced  that  the 

60 


increase  in  rejections  on  account  of  heart  affections  from  a  minimum  of 
0.08  per  cent,  in  1881  to  a  maximum  of  0.4  per  cent,  in  1908  cannot  be 
evidence  ^f  an  actual  increase,  but  is  more  likely  the  result  of  more 
rigid  methods  of  examination.  As  regards  goitre  it  appears  that  the 
disease  was  practically  limited  to  the  most  northern  provinces  of  Italy, 
adjoining  those  of  Switzerland  and  Austria  in  which  the  disease  is  cor- 
respondingly frequent. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  SWITZERLAND 
The  recruiting  statistics  of  Switzerland  are  available  only  for  the 
period  1875-1904.  The  general  rejection  rate  on  account  of  unfitness 
for  military  service  has  varied  between  a  maximum  of  46.6  per  cent, 
during  1879  and  a  minimum  of  31  per  cent,  in  1876.  For  the  year 
1904  the  rate  was  40.1  per  cent.  The  opinion  is  advanced  that  the 
changes  are  largely  in  consequence  of  more  rigid  methods  of  examina- 
tion and  not  directly  related  to  material  alterations  in  the  physique  of 
the  Swiss  population.  Comparing  the  returns  by  quinquennial  periods  for 
the  last  twenty-five  years,  it  appears  that  there  have  been  changes  in  the 
rejection  rate  for  specified  causes,  but  the  data  require  to  be  considered 
or  interpreted  with  extreme  care.  General  weakness,  anemia  or 
convalescence  was  the  cause  of  rejection  of  6.1  per  cent,  of  those  exam- 
ined in  1875-84,  the  rate  having  gradually  declined  to  3.3  per  cent,  in 
1901-05.  Rejection  on  account  of  deficiency  in  stature  decreased  from 
6.5  per  cent,  in  1886-90  to  3.7  per  cent,  in  1901-05.  Rejections  on 
account  of  tuberculosis  of  the  lungs,  however,  increased  from  0.3 
per  cent,  during  1886-90  to  0.6  per  cent,  in  1901-05.  Rejections  on 
account  of  diseases  of  the  heart  and  circulatory  organs  increased 
gradually  from  0.7  per  cent,  during  1875-84  to  1.7  per  cent,  during 
1901-05.  Rejections  on  account  of  goitre  increased  from  5.8  per  cent, 
during  1875-84  to  7.1  per  cent,  during  1886-90,  subsequently  de- 
clining to  6.1  per  cent,  during  1901-05.  The  rejection  rate  for  her- 
nia remained  practically  stationary,  having  been  2.7  per  cent,  during 
the  last  five  years  of  the  period  under  observation,  while  re- 
jections on  account  of  flatfoot  increased  from  a  minimum  of  2.3 
per  cent,  during  1886-90  to  4.1  per  cent,  during  1901-05.  The  significant 
facts  about  the  Swiss  recruiting  statistics  are  the  high  rejection  rates 
for  general  weakness,  anemia,  etc.,  minimum  stature,  diseases  of  the 
heart  and  circulatory  organs  and,  most  of  all,  goitre,  which  continues 
as  the  leading  cause  of  rejection  in  Swiss  recruiting  at  the  present  time. 
Errors  of  refraction  accounted  for  rejections  of  5.6  per  cent,  of  the  ex- 
amined during  1901-05,  against  a  minimum  of  1.9  per  cent,  during  1874- 
84.  The  increase  was  probably  more  the  result  of  improvement  in 
methods  of  eye  examination  than  an  actual  increase,  although  there  are 
some  reasons  for  believing  that  errors  of  refraction  are  progressively 
on  the  increase  in  practically  all  the  leading  European  countries  as  a 
cause  of  rejection  in  recruiting  statistics. 

61 


RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  SCANDINAVIAN 
COUNTRIES 

For  the  Scandinavian  countries  the  statistics  of  Denmark^SiVe.  sug- 
gestive of  an  increase  in  the  rate  of  rejections  on  account  of  unfitness 
for  military  service  from  29.0  per  cent,  during  1891-95  to  41.3  per  cent, 
during  1906-10.  *  The  rejection  rate  has  varied  between  a  maximum  of 
47.6  per  cent,  in  the  First  MiHtary  District  to  a  minimum  of  37.5  in 
the  Fourth  MiHtary  District.  These  rates  are  for  the  period  1905-09. 
The  principal  causes  of  rejection  during  1906-10  were  2.95  per 
cent,  on  account  of  general  Sodily  weakness,  2.22  per  cent,  for  dis- 
eases or  defects  of  the  eyes,  1.38  per  cent,  for  diseases  or  defects  of 
the  ears,  1.5  per  cent,  for  diseases  of  the  lungs,  2.7  per  cent,  for 
diseases  of  the  heart  and  5.99  per  cent,  for  diseases  or  physical  defects 
of  the  feet.  The  rejection  rate  for  all  causes  was  41.3  per  cent,  for  the 
period  under  review.  The  rejections  for  deficiency  in  stature  decreased 
from  a  maximum  of  0.48  per  cent,  of  those  examined  during  1891-95 
to  a  minimum  of  0.24  per  cent,  during  1906-10. 

For  Norway  the  recruiting  statistics  from  1878  to  1910  are  indica- 
tive of  conditions  quite  at  variance  with  those  reported  upon  for 
Denmark.  The  rejection  rate  during  1910  was  20.7  per  cent.,  the  rate 
having  changed  during  the  period  under  review  from  a  maximum  of  26.6 
per  cent,  in  1880  to  18.3  per  cent,  in  1890.  The  rejection  rate  was 
highest  in  the  Third  Military  District  (Kristianssand),  or  22.9  per  cent., 
and  lowest  in  the  Tromsoe  District,  or  16.6  per  cent.  Theprincipal causes 
of  rejection  were  as  follows:  Diseases  of  the  extremities,  7.1  per  cent.; 
diseases  of  the  eyes  and  errors  of  refraction,  4.4  per  cent. ;  diseases  of 
the  lungs,  2.6  per  cent. ;  diseases  of  the  ears,  2.5  per  cent. ;  diseases  of 
the  heart,  2.3  per  cent.;  hernia,  2.2  per  cent.;  bodily  weakness,  1.5  per 
cent;  spinal  curvature,  etc.,  1.9  per  cent.;  diseases  of  the  nose  and 
mouth,  1.1  per  cent.,  and  all  other  diseases  and  defects  and  deficiencies, 
6.3  per  cent.  The  average  rate  for  all  causes  was  31.1  per  cent,  for  the 
period  1904-08.  The  Norwegian  returns,  however,  are  for  both  the  en- 
tirely unfit  and  those  temporarily  unfit,  which  makes  a  comparison  with 
other  recruiting  statistics  of  doubtful  validity.  The  average  stature 
of  Norwegian  recruits  has  been  ascertained  for  a  long  period  of  years, 
having  gradually  increased  from  a  minimum  of  168.7  cm.  during 
1878-82  to  170.8  cm.  during  1908-09. 

For  Sweden  the  recruiting  statistics  are  for  the  period  1890-1907. 
The  general  rejection  rate  gradually  declined  from  a  maximum  of  26.3 
per  cent,  during  1901  to  18.1  per  cent,  during  1907.  These  rates  do 
not  include  those  temporarily  rejected,  or  those  whose  acceptance  for 
actual  service  was  postponed.  A  minimum  rate  of  only  12.4  per  cent 
was  reported  for  the  Gotland  District  and  a  maximum  rate  of  25.6  per 
cent,  for  the  Sodermanland  District.     These  rates  apply  only  to  the 


*  The  rate  declined,  however,   again  during  the   period  1911-15   to   29.5   per  cent. 

62 


recruits  21  years  of  age  examined  during  1903-07.  The  principal 
causes  of  rejection  during  the  same  period  were  as  follows :  Diseases 
of  organs  of  circulation,  including  the  heart,  4.37  per  cent.;  diseases 
of  bones  and  extremities,  3.43  per  cent. ;  deafness  and  diseases  of  the 
ears,  1.58  per  cent;  tuberculosis,  1.57  per  cent.;  general  debility,  1.5  per 
cent.;  diseases  of  the  eye,  1.36  per  cent.;  diseases  of  the  mind,  1.07 
per  cent.,  and  deficiency  in  stature,  0.53  per  cent.  For  all  causes  the 
rate  was  18.58  per  cent.,  limited,  as  previously  stated,  to  those  21  years 
of  age  only.  For  those  examined  at  older  ages  the  rejection  rate  for  all 
causes  was  26.12  per  cent.,  and  for  diseases  of  the  heart  and  circulatory 
organs,  5.65  per  cent,  and  for  tuberculosis,  2.86  per  cent.  The  large 
group  of  rejections  on  account  of  diseases  of  the  circulatory  organs 
apparently  includes  varicose  veins,  etc. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  BELGIUM 
For  Belgium  the  available  recruiting  statistics  are  for  the  period 
1901-09.  The  general  rejection  rate  having  varied  between  a  maximum 
of  34.27  per  cent,  at  the  beginning  of  the  period  to  19.26  per  cent 
during  1907,  when,  however,  radically  different  methods  of  examina- 
tion appear  to  have  been  employed.  The  rate  increased  to  29.34  per 
cent,  in  1908,  and  declined  to  25.63  per  cent,  in  1909.  The  rejection 
rate  was  highest  in  the  District  of  Brabant,  or  40.7  per  cent.,  during  the 
period  1902-06,  and  lowest  in  the  District  of  Luxemburg,  or  18.3  per 
cent.,  the  average  for  all  districts  for  the  period  having  been  31.7 
per  cent. 

The  principal  cause  of  rejection  in  Belgium  during  1902-06  was 
general  debility,  accounting  for  7.97  per  cent.  Diseases  or  defects  orf 
the  extremities  caused  5.0  per  cent.;  deficiency  in  stature,  2.27  per 
cent ;  varicose  veins,  etc.,  1.85  per  cent. ;  hernia,  1.63  per  cent. ;  flatfoot, 
0.27  per  cent.;  tuberculosis  of  lungs,  0.15  per  cent.,  and  goitre,  0.13  per 
cent.  Wide  variations  in  causes  of  rejection  were  reported  for  the  differ- 
ent provinces.  For  illustration,  physical  debility  accounted  for  a  rejection 
of  12.6  per  cent,  of  those  examined  in  the  District  of  Brabant,  but  for 
only  1.97  per  cent,  in  the  District  of  Luxemburg.  Rejections  on 
account  of  diseases  of  the  heart  and  circulatory  organs  accounted  for 
1.77  per  cent,  in  the  District  of  Hennegau,  but  for  only  0.1  per  cent, 
in  the  District  of  Luxemburg.  Goitre  accounted  for  a  maximum  rate 
of  0.53  per  cent,  in  the  District  of  Liege,  but  for  only  0.009  per  cent, 
in  the  District  of  West  Flanders.  Rejections  on  account  of  deficiency 
in  stature  varied  from  an  average  of  2.27  per  cent,  for  the  entire 
kingdom,  a  maximum  of  2.64  per  cent,  for  the  Province  of  Liege  and 
a  minimum  of  1.33  per  cent,  for  the  Province  of  Limburg. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  HOLLAND 
For  Holland  the  available  recruiting  statistics  are  only  for  the  period 
1903-07.       The  average  rejection  rate  was  19.8  per  cent,  of  the  ex- 

63 


amined,  having  been  as  high  as  24.9  per  cent,  in  one  district  and  as 
low  as  15.8  in  another.  The  principal  causes  of  rejection  were  diseases 
and  defects  of  the  eyes,  6.1  per  cent. ;  general  debility,  including  anemia, 
etc.,  1.9  per  cent.;  followed  by  flatfoot  and  other  diseases  of  the  feet, 
1.5  per  cent.;  spinal  curvature,  etc.,  1.5  per  cent.;  diseases  of  the  ears, 
0.95  per  cent. ;  hernia,  0.9  per  cent. ;  diseases  of  the  heart,  0.6  per  cent. ; 
tuberculosis  of  the  lungs,  0.6  per  cent.,  and  goitre,  0.09  per  cent. 
Aside  from  diseases  of  the  heart,  however,  heart  murmurs,  etc.,  ac- 
counted for  0.3  per  cent,  of  the  examined,  a  total  of  0.88  per  cent,  for 
all  diseases  of  the  heart,  as  far  as  reported.  Of  special  significance 
is  the  relatively  high  rate  of  rejection  on  account  of  spinal  curvature, 
which,  however,  may  be  explained  by  special  attention  to  an  impair- 
ment frequently  not  recognized  by  superficial  examinations. 

Of  special  interest  in  the  statistics  of  Holland  are  the  anthropometric 
data,  which  extend  over  the  period  1863-1910  and  which  indicate  a 
persistent  decHne  in  the  proportion  of  recruits  of  a  stature  of  less  than 
155  cm.  and  an  increase  in  the  proportion  of  those  of  170  cm.  and  over. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  period  the  proportion  of  minimum  stature  was 
11.09  per  cent,  of  those  examined,  against  1.98  per  cent,  at  the  end. 
The  proportion  of  a  stature  above  170  cm.  was  24  per  cent,  dur- 
ing 1863-67,  which  by  1906-10  had  increased  to  54.61  per  cent. 
Whether  this  increase,  however,  is  not  more  apparent  than 
real  is  not  made  clear  by  the  statistics,  which  are  suggestive  of 
extreme  caution  in  connection  with  their  use  as  regards  the  probable 
physical  improvement  of  Dutch  recruits.  The  stature  varies  considerably 
for  the  different  provinces.  The  proportion  below  the  prescribed  mini- 
mum of  155  cm.  has  been  as  high  as  3.74  per  cent,  in  one  district  and  as 
low  as  0.88  per  cent,  in  another  during  the  last  quinquennial  period  for 
which  the  information  is  available.  The  general  conclusion,  however, 
would  seem  justified  that  the  proportion  of  recruits  below  the  average 
stature  is  now  less  in  Holland  than  in  former  years. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  RUSSIA  AND  FINLAND 

The  recruiting  statistics  of  Russia  and  of  Finland  are  too  fragmen- 
tary to  permit  of  definite  conclusions.  For  Finland  the  ratio  of  perma- 
nently rejected  recruits  has  varied  considerably  from  year  to  year,  hav- 
ing been  at  a  minimum  of  20.25  per  cent,  during  1903  and  a  maximum 
of  62.69  per  cent,  in  1894.  The  returns  indicate  the  decided  influence  of 
changes  in  rules  and  regulations  and  cannot  be  accepted  without  an 
analysis  in  detail,  for  which  the  data  are  at  present  not  available. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN 

The  recruiting  statistics  for  Great  Britain  are  not  comparable  with 
those  of  the  countries  thus  far  examined  or  discussed,  in  that  they  relate 
exclusively  to  volunteers  instead  of  to  conscripts,  and  to  a  class  of  vol- 
unteers which  cannot  be  considered  typical  of  the  British  male  popula- 

64 


tion  of  the  recruiting  age.  During  1910  the  rejection  rate  was  30.9  per 
cent.,  the  rate  since  1891  having  been  as  high  as  42.35  per  cent,  in 
1896  and  as  low  as  28.1  per  cent,  in  1900.  The  rates  show  throughout 
the  strong  influence  of  recruiting  necessities,  as,  for  illustration,  during 
the  years  1900-01,  on  account  of  the  South  African  War.  During 
1906-10  the  principal  causes  of  rejection  on  initial  examination  were  as 
follows:  Deficiency  in  chest  measurement  accounted  for  5.3  per  cent, 
of  those  examined;  dental  defects  and  deficiencies,  5.2  per  cent.; 
visual  defects  and  deficiencies,  2.8  per  cent.;  diseases  of  the 
heart,  2.8  per  cent;  deficiency  in  stature,  1.18  per  cent.;  deficiency  in 
weight,  1.16  per  cent.;  flatfoot,  0.88  per  cent.;  hernia,  0.8  per  cent.; 
spinal  curvature,  0.53  per  cent,  (for  Holland  the  corresponding  propor- 
tion of  rejection  was  1.48  per  cent.). 

In  the  English  statistics  forty  specific  causes  of  rejection  are  enumer- 
ated, some  of  which,  apparently,  are  not  recognized  in  the  recruit- 
ing statistics  of  the  Continent.  Of  special  significance  is  the  high  rejec- 
tion rate  on  account  of  deficient  chest  development  or  chest  measure- 
ment, which  to  a  certain  extent  is  explained  by  the  class  of  recruits 
accepted  on  a  basis  of  voluntary  enlistments.  There  have  been  pro- 
found changes  in  this  respect,  however,  during  recent  years,  and  the 
proportion  rejected  on  account  of  deficiency  in  chest  measurement  or 
chest  proportion  was  as  high  as  13.98  per  cent,  in  1896,  and  as  low  as 
4.96  per  cent,  during  1906.  Equally  important  changes  have  occurred 
in  the  rejection  on  account  of  underweight,  the  fate  on  this  account 
having  been  as  high  as  4.56  per  cent,  in  1897,  and  as  low  as  0.41  per 
cent,  during  1908.  The  misleading  character  of  these  returns  as 
evidence  of  physical  deterioration  is  best  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the 
rate  of  rejections  on  account  of  underweight  was  2.33  per  cent,  of 
those  examined  in  1907,  only  0.4  per  cent,  during  1908,  0.46  per  cent, 
during  1909,  but  1.47  per  cent,  during  1910.  In  further  contrast  the 
rate  was  as  high  as  4.0  per  cent,  during  the  year  1893,  but  during  the 
preceding  year  it  was  only  2.8  per  cent.  The  rejection  rate  on  account 
of  tuberculosis  has  also  varied  considerably,  or  between  a  maximum  of 
0.26  per  cent,  during  1894  and  0.07  per  cent,  during  the  preceding  year. 
Rejections  on  account  of  hernia  have  remained  fairly  stationary,  the 
fluctuation  being  limited  between  a  maximum  of  0.95  per  cent,  during 
1908  and  a  minimum  of  0.71  per  cent,  during  1895.  Of  special  signifi- 
cance is  the  decline  in  the  rejections  on  account  of  syphilis,  which 
reached  a  maximum  rate  of  0.51  per  cent,  in  1894  and  a  minimum  of 
0.18  per  cent,  during  1908-09. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  JAPAN 

The  only  other  available  statistics  for  foreign  countries  are  those  of 
Japan,  limited  to  the  period  1903-09.  As  far  as  it  is  possible  to  judge,  the 
ratio  of  rejections  was   10.8  per  cent,  of  those  examined  during  the 

65 


period  1905-09.  No  statistics  are  published  regarding  the  causes  of  re- 
jection, but  some  interesting  data  are  available  regarding  the  distribu- 
tion of  troops  by  stature,  which  seem  to  indicate  a  gradual  decline  in 
the  proportion  of  those  below  148.5  cm.  Comparing  the  returns  for 
Japan  and  those  for  certain  other  countries,  it  appears  that  the  propor- 
tion of  those  of  a  stature  of  160  cm.  and  over  (63  inches)  was  87.0  per 
cent,  for  Prussia,  69.9  per  cent,  for  France,  57.0  per  cent,  for  Austro- 
Hungary,  but  only  3.1  per  cent,  for  Japan. 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 

The  comparative  value  of  the  preceding  statistics  is  very  limited. 
It  is  not  only  difficult  to  scientifically  define  the  prevailing  standards 
of  military  fitness  in  the  different  countries  for  which  recruiting 
statistics  are  available,  but  the  standards  themselves  have  varied  so 
frequently  and  have  been  so  strongly  influenced  by  military  require- 
ments that  all  international  conclusions  must  be  arrived  at  with  extreme 
caution.  Schwiening  includes,  however,  certain  statistics  for  the  United 
States  which  may  be  referred  to,  since  nearly  all  of  the  preceding  data 
are  derived  from  his  elaborate  work  on  Recruiting  Statistics  (Lehrbuch 
der  Militarhygiene,  vol.  v.)  which,  unfortunately,  has  not  been  trans- 
lated into  English.  According  to  Schwiening,  the  rejection  rate  for 
American  recruits,  which,  of  course,  represent  volunteers,  is  not 
strictly  comparable  with  the  returns  for  conscripts,  on  the  one  hand,  nor 
exactly  with  the  volunteer  statistics  of  England,  on  the  other,  for  there 
are  reasons  for  believing  that  the  English  statistics  represented  previ- 
ously to  the  war  a  class  physically  distinctly  below,  in  age  and  physique, 
the  corresponding  class  of  appHcants  for  military  service  examined 
and  accepted  in  the  United  States. 

The  general  (medical)  rejection  rate  for  1906-10,  according  to  this 
author,  was  13.69  per  cent.,  having  been  13.8  per  cent,  for  the  white, 
and  10.5  per  cent,  for  the  colored.  The  principal  cause  of  rejection  among 
the  white  was  diseases  of  the  eyes  and  errors  of  refraction,  or  1.57  per 
cent,  of  those  examined,  followed  by  sexual  diseases,  1.23  per  cent.; 
diseases  of  the  ears,  1.07  per  cent. ;  diseases  of  the  heart,  1.03  per  cent. ; 
underweight,  0.79  per  cent. ;  dental  defects,  0.69  per  cent. ;  alcoholism, 
0.65  per  cent. ;  flatfoot,  0.57  per  cent.,  and  hernia,  0.54  per  cent. 
It  is  extremely  significant  that  general  debility  should  be  such  a 
rare  cause  of  rejection  in  the  United  States  Army,  only  0.06  per  cent, 
for  the  white  and  0.02  per  cent,  for  the  colored,  when  this  cause 
or  group  of  causes  is  one  of  such  major  importance  in  the  examination 
of  conscripts  on  the  Continent.  The  statistics  make  it  clear  that  they 
cannot  be  used  for  comparative  purposes  without  extreme  caution ;  in 
fact,  it  may  be  seriously  questioned  whether  any  comparison  can  at 
the  present  time  be  made  which  does  not  involve  the  serious  risk  of 
error  in  whatever  conclusions  may  be  arrived  at.    The  analysis,  there- 

66 


fore,  suggests  the  urgency  of  radical  reforms  as  regards  both 
standardized  methods  of  physical  and  medical  examination  in  recruit- 
ing and  the  subsequent  tabulation,  classification  and  publication  of  the 
returns. 

COMPARATIVE  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  FOR 
MILITARY  SERVICE 

The  questions  involved  in  the  practical  use  of  army  anthropometry 
and  medical  statistics  are  of  such  obvious  vital  importance,  not  only 
to  the  military  authorities  but  to  the  public  at  large,  that  unnecessary 
delay  in  the  required  changes  and  improvements  must  be  considered 
as  contrary  to  public  poHcy  and  the  scientific  spirit  of  the  age.  It  is 
difficult  to  understand  how  so  important  a  branch  of  statistics  should 
have  been  so  conspicuously  neglected  that  not  much  more  than  a 
beginning  has  been  made  toward  placing  the  army  anthro- 
pometric and  medical  statistics  upon  a  thoroughly  well-developed 
scientific  basis  and  above  the  serious  criticism  of  inherent  un- 
trustworthiness  and  practical  uselessness.  Even  the  great  work  of 
Prof.  Dr.  H.  Schwiening  fails  to  meet  modern  requirements,  due 
primarily  to  the  inherent  limitations  of  the  data  in  consequence  of 
the  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  military  authorities  to  properly  develop 
the  statistical  branch  of  the  army  medical*  and  recruiting  services.  The 
statistics  for  the  various  foreign  countries  utilized  for  the  present 
purposes  and  chiefly  derived  from  the  work  of  Schwiening  cannot, 
therefore,  be  accepted  as  conclusive  evidence  of  the  physical  superiority 
or  inferiority  of  the  different  army  groups  or  of  the  same  group  at 
different  periods  of  time.  No  two  countries,  apparently,  follow  the 
same  methods  of  recruiting,  of  physical  examination,  the  same  rules 
and  regulations  in  physical  and  medical  rejections  and,  finally,  the 
same  classification  and  tabulation  of  returns.  The  status  of  the  prob- 
lem in  this  respect  is  much  the  same  as  some  twenty  years  ago  was 
true  of  general  mortality  statistics,  the  reform  of  which  dates  from 
the  now  almost  universal  adoption  of  the  Bertillon  or  international 
classification  of  causes  of  death. 

These  limitations  in  army  medical  statistics  explain  the  contradictory 
nature  of  many  of  the  conclusions  based  upon  crude  and  far-from- 
satisfactory  returns.  Thus,  for  illustration,  it  is  frequently  not  entirely 
clear  whether  rejection  ratios  are  derived  from  recruiting  material 
subjected  to  a  previous  process  of  the  elimination  of  the  obviously 
unfit  or  from  the  entire  material  subject  to  conscription  or  selective 
draft.  It  is  also  often  doubtful,  especially  as  regards  anthropometric 
statistics,  whether  the  official  data  have  reference  to  the  recruiting 
material  previously  to  medical  selection  or  merely  to  accepted  recruits, 
as  was  the"  case  in  the  United  States  Army  before  the  war.  Now,  of 
course,  such  a  selected  group  cannot  be  considered  typical  of  the  normal 

67 


stature  or  weight  distribution  of  the  male  population  of  military  age, 
since  those  above  the  maximum  and  those  below  the  minimum  of  the 
army  standard  are  excluded.  In  no  direction,  however,  are  the  statistics 
more  inconclusive  than  in  the  assigned  causes  of  rejection  for  military 
service,  especially  where  the  practice  prevails  of  assigning  all  those 
who  are  generally  deficient  in  physique,  health  or  bodily  strength  to  a 
relatively  large  group  designated  as  "general  debility."  It  is 
true  that  for  Germany  the  details  of  this  group  are  reasonably 
well  understood,  but  it  requires  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  German 
army  regulations  to  determine  the  significance  of  numerically  unim- 
portant but  medically  suggestive  causes  and  conditions.  Unques- 
tionably, the  difficulties  to  be  overcome  are  often  serious,  as,  for  illus- 
tration, in  the  cases  of  retarded  bodily  development  and  deficien- 
cies in  consequence  of  the  debilitating  effects  of  previous  illness,  etc. 
In  the  absence  of  a  thoroughly  well-considered  international  classifica- 
tion of  causes  of  rejection,  the  available  statistical  material  requires 
therefore  to  be  used  with  extreme  caution. 

In  further  illustration  of  these  observations,  it  seems  advisable  to 
briefly  restate  the  principal  causes  of  rejection  in  recruiting  as  officially 
assigned  in  the  army  experience  of  representative  countries,  primarily 
for  the  purpose  of  emphasizing  still  more  precisely  the  inherent  limita- 
tions of  army  recruiting  statistics  in  their  medical  aspects  and  the 
more  or  less  inconclusive  evidence  of  the  prevailing  physical  or  medi- 
cal defects  and  deficiencies  in  the  recruiting  material  of  the  armies 
of  the  different  countries  under  review.  Most  of  the  following  data 
are  derived,  as  a  matter  of  convenience,  from  the  treatise  on  Military 
and  Sanitary  Statistics  by  Dr.  H,  Schwiening. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  GERMAN  ARMY 

The  first  table  is  for  the  German  army  and  the  period  1904-08.  In 
addition  to  the  six  principal  causes  of  rejection,  the  table  shows  the 
percentage  of  such  rejections  in  the  total  number  of  recruits  examined, 
which  must  not  be  confused  with  the  percentage  distribution  of  all 
causes  of  rejection  in  the  usual  form,  in  which  rejections  only  are  con- 
sidered and  not  with  reference  to  the  recruiting  material  from  which 
they  are  derived. 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  GERMAN  ARMY 

1904-1908 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  General    Debility    19.3 

2.  Diseases  of  Heart  and  Circulation 3.0 

3.  Minor  Medical  Defects   (as  defined  by  regulations) 3.0 

4.  Defects  and  Deformities  of  the  Extremities 2.9 

5.  Flatfoot    2.1 

6.  Hernia  2.1 

68 


According  to  this  table,  out  of  every  100  recruits  examined  in  the 
German  army,  19.3  were  rejected  for  general  debility,  which  includes 
retarded  bodily  development,  weakness  of  the  body  as  a  whole  or  of 
any  of  its  parts  in  consequence  of  previous  illness  or  injury,  and  minor 
diseases  or  deformities  not  likely  to  result  in  permanent  incapacity  for 
military  service.  This  group  also  includes  deficient  bone  or  muscular 
development,  deficient  chest  development  and  lung  capacity,  etc.  In  the 
usage  of  other  countries  these  defects  or  deficiencies  are  separately 
enumerated,  and  the  proportion  of  such  rejections  in  the  German  army 
considered  as  a  group  cannot,  therefore,  be  compared  or  contrasted 
with  the  combined  figures  for  other  armies,  on  account  of  the  absence  of 
corresponding  army  rules  and  regulations  governing  with  approximate 
precision  the  designation  or  classification,  as  the  case  may  be.  It, 
nevertheless,  is  extremely  significant  that  the  proportion  of  rejections 
for  this  group  of  causes  and  conditions  should  be  so  large  in  the 
German  army  regardless  of  universal  physical  training  co-ordinated 
to  military  requirements. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  AUSTRO- 
HUNGARIAN  ARMY 

The  next  table  is  for  the  Austro-Hungarian  Empire,  and  for  the 
decade  1894-1905.  It  is  limited  to  the  first  three  age  groups  of  the 
attained  minimum  stature  of  153  cm. 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN 

ARMY,  1894-1905 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  General   Bodily   Weakness 43.0 

2.  Varicose  Veins  3.3 

3.  Intestinal    Displacement    (Hernia) 3.1 

4.  Goitre  2.8 

5.  Flatfoot  2.4 

6.  Deformities  of  Skeleton  and  Skull 2.2 

The  term  "bodily  weakness"  as  used  in  the  Austrian  statistics  is 
obviously  a  large  group  of  miscellaneous  causes  and  conditions,  each 
and  every  one  of  which  should  be  separately  stated  to  permit  of  a 
definite  assignment  in  a  strictly  scientific  classification.  Such  a  group 
of  causes  or  conditions  serves  no  medical  and  military  purpose,  but 
merely  tends  to  preclude  finality  of  judgment  and  accuracy  in  com- 
parison. It  is  also  a  practical  certainty  that  such  a  grouping  permits  of 
the  inclusion  of  a  large  number  of  ill-defined  causes  or  conditions; 
but  it  justifies,  in  the  main,  the  assumption  that  a  very  considerable 
proportion  of  those  examined  for  service  in  the  Austro-Hungarian  army 
are  of  a  sufficient  degree  of  physical  inferiorityas  tobe  unfit  for  the  stress 
and  strain  of  military  life.  It,  however,  must  not  be  overlooked  that  in 
countries  where  the  military  age  may  begin  with  18  in  the  case  of  volun- 

69 


teers,  many  of  the  recruits  who  may  be  physically  underdeveloped  at  the 
time  of  examination  may  be  assigned  to  a  class  subject  to  re-examination 
and  may  be  acceptable  for  military  service  on  attaining  full  maturity.  The 
Austrian  statistics  illustrate  precisely  the  urgency  of  a  rational  and  well- 
considered  international  classification  of  causes  and  conditions  of  re- 
jection, but  in  the  absence  of  similarity  in  other  recruiting  require- 
ments, such  as  the  age  and  the  method  of  selection,  the  derived  classi- 
fication itself  may  still  remain  inconclusive  and  possibly  seriously  mis- 
leading. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  FRENCH  ARMY 
The  following  table  is  for  the  French  army,  for  the  period  1907-10: 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  FRENCH  ARMY 

1907-1910 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Diseases  of  Bones  and  Extremities 2.4 

2.  General   Bodily   Debility 1.9 

3.  Tuberculosis    1-2 

4.  Ill-defined  and  Not-designated 1.0 

5.  Varicose  Veins  0.9 

6.  Errors  of  Refraction  0.8 

The  French  statistics  clearly  emphasize  the  non-comparabiHty  of  the 
data  with  those  of  Germany  and  Austria.  For  tuberculosis,  which  is  re- 
turned separately  for  France,  is  probably  included  in  general  debiHty 
in  the  statistics  of  Germany  and  Austria,  at  least  as  a  predisposing  con- 
dition or  with  the  disease  in  its  initial  stages.  The  German  classifi- 
cation, in  fact,  does  not  specifically  enumerate  tuberculosis,  but  it  gives 
a  separate  classification  for  diseases  of  the  lungs  (1.0  per  cent.),  asthma 
(0.04  per  cent.)  and  diseases  of  the  larynx  (0.3  per  cent.).  These 
three  groups,  therefore,  constitute  a  major  group  of  diseases  of  the 
respiratory  organs,  probably  inclusive  of  a  fair  proportion  of  cases  of 
tuberculosis,  at  least  in  its  initial  stage.  In  contrast,  it  is  exceedingly 
significant  that  the  permanent  rejections  in  the  French  army  on  account 
of  tuberculosis  should  have  been  1.2  per  cent.,  as  stated,  with  a  rea- 
sonable assumption  that  cases  in  the  initial  stages  of  the  disease  were 
also  included  in  the  second  group  under  bodily  weakness  or  general 
debility.  The  term  "tuberculosis"  as  used  in  the  foregoing  group  is, 
however,  exclusive  of  tuberculosis  of  other  organs  or  parts,  the  propor- 
tion of  rejections  on  account  of  which  was  0.4  per  cent.  It  is  intimated 
by  Schwiening  that  the  rate  of  discharges  on  account  of  tuberculosis  in 
the  French  army  previously  to  the  war  was  relatively  high,  and  that 
therefore  the  examinations  in  connection  with  recruiting  were  either  in 
many  cases  superficial  or  conditions  of  army  life  were  peculiarly  predis- 
posing to  the  development  of  the  disease  soon  after  entry  into  the  mili- 
tary service. 

70 


The  French  statistics  also  illustrate  clearly  the  importance  of  ex- 
ceptional causes  in  their  effects  upon  general  recruiting  results.  Thus, 
for  illustration,  in  the  Austrian  experience,  goitre  is  the  fourth  im- 
portant cause,  accounting  for  2.8  per  cent.,  but  in  the  French  army 
this  condition  accounts  for  only  0.14  per  cent.  Equally  important  are 
the  differences  in  rejections  for  flatfoot.  In  the  German  army  this 
condition  accounts  for  2.1  per  cent,  of  the  examined,  in  the  Austrian 
for  2.4  per  cent.,  but  in  the  French  army  for  only  0.34  per  cent. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  SWISS 
ARMY 

The  Swiss  recruiting  statistics  are  for  the  period  1901-05,  and  their 
results  by  causes  are  also  on  the  percentage  basis  of  the  examined.  The 
statistics  are  even  more  conclusive  than  those  of  Germany  and  Austria, 
for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  importance  of  exceptional  causes 
or  specific  conditions,  such  as  goitre,  hernia,  etc. 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  SWISS 
ARMY,  1901-1905 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Goitre 6.1 

2.  Visual  Defects  and  Errors  of  Refraction 5.6 

3.  Flatfoot  4.1 

4.  Below  Minimum  Stature Z.7 

5.  General  Bodily  Weakness 3.3 

6.  Hernia  2.7 

Next  to  goitre  errors  of  refraction  are  apparently  the  principal  cause 
of  military  unfitness  in  the  Sv^^iss  army.  There  is  probably  no  condi- 
tion which  gives  rise  to  more  confusion  and  error  than  the  examina- 
tion of  the  eyes.  In  some  recruiting  statistics  all  visual  defects,  errors 
of  refraction,  as  well  as  eye  diseases  and  even  blindness,  are  combined. 
This,  however,  is  not  the  case  in  Switzerland,  where  other  diseases  of 
the  eyes  account  for  1.7  per  cent,  of  the  examined,  and  blindness  of 
one  or  both  eyes  for  0.02  per  cent. 

The  rejections  for  failure  to  attain  to  the  minimum  stature  in  Swit- 
zerland are  of  exceptional  importance.  They  clearly  emphasize  the 
effect  of  governing  rules  and  regulations  rather  than  of  physical  in- 
feriority, on  the  one  hand,  and  the  actual  army  necessities  on  a  peace 
basis,  on  the  other.  In  the  German  army  the  proportion  rejected  on 
account  of  failure  to  attain  to  the  minimum  stature  was  only  0.08  per 
cent.,  against  3.7  for  the  Swiss  army.  Evidently  either  the  Swiss  re- 
quirements as  to  stature  are  unnecessarily  rigorous  or  unduly  high  in 
consequence  of  the  sufficiency  of  recruiting  material  to  maintain  the 
recruiting  strength  of  the  army  on  a  peace  basis. 

71 


CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  ITALIAN  ARMY 

The  following  table  for  Italy  is  for  the  period  1905-09: 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  ITALIAN  ARMY 

1905-1909 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  General  Weakness  5.1 

2.  Deficient  Development  of  Chest 4.1 

3.  Diseases  of  the  Eye,  including  Errors  of  Refraction 2.1 

4.  Scrofula,   Anemia,   Weakness,   etc 2.0 

5.  Diseases  of  Bones,  Extremities,  etc 1.9 

6.  Hernia  1 .5 

In  Italy,  Austria  and  Germany  general  bodily  weakness  is  the  pre- 
dominating cause  of  army  rejections.  For  medical  and  recruiting  pur- 
poses this  term  is  neither  conclusive  nor  practically  useful.  Com- 
bining general  bodily  weakness  with  deficient  chest  development  and 
scrofula,  anemia,  convalescence,  etc.,  the  three  causes  account  for  11.2 
per  cent,  of  the  rejections  of  the  examined  in  the  Italian  experience, 
against  19.3  per  cent,  in  the  German  army  and  43.0  per  cent,  in  the 
Austrian  army.  It  is  exceedingly  doubtful  whether  on  the  basis  of 
a  thorough  medical  examination,  with  a  due  regard  to  the  necessity 
for  the  ascertainment  of  all  existing  impairments,  defects  and  defi- 
ciencies and  not  merely  the  predominating  one  sufficient  for  military 
disqualification,  the  Italian  recruits  would  still  hold  a  position  of 
superiority  in  physical  development  over  the  recruits  of  the  German 
or  the  Austrian  Empire. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  BELGIAN  ARMY 
The  Belgian  statistics  are  for  the  period  1902-04. 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES   OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  BELGIAN  ARMY 

1902-1904 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Bodily  Weakness  : 8.0 

2.  Diseases  of  the  Bones  and  Extremities 5.0 

3.  Diseases  of  Eyes,  including  Blindness  and  Ophthalmia 4.4 

4.  Below   Minimum   Stature 2.3 

5.  Varicose  Veins  1.9 

6.  Hernia  1.6 

In  all  of  the  recruiting  statistics  specific  rejections  for  tuberculosis 
hold  a  comparatively  unimportant  position.  In  the  Belgian  army  the 
rejection  rate  was  only  0.15  per  cent.,  but  in  addition  thereto  the  rejec- 
tions for  diseases  of  the  respiratory  organs  were  0.8  per  cent.  The 
fact,  of  course,  must  not  be  overlooked  that  the  examinations  concern 
almost  exclusively  the  recruiting  material  between  20  and  22  years  of 
age,  at  which  tuberculosis  has  rarely  developed  to  a  point  of  sufficient 
seriousness  to  permit  of  its  ascertainment  except  by  thorough  methods 

72 


of  examination.  In  proportion,  therefore,  as  methods  of  physical  and 
medical  examination  are  perfected,  the  rejection  ratio  is  increased,  but 
the  higher  percentage  is  merely  evidence  of  thoroughness  and  not 
necessarily  of  a  higher  degree  of  frequency  occurrence. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  DUTCH  ARMY 

The  statistics  for  Holland  are  for  the  period  1903-07. 
PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  DUTCH  ARMY,  1903-1907 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Errors  of  Refraction 4.2 

2.  Other  Diseases  of  the  Eyes : 1.9 

3.  Bodily  Weakness,  Anemia,  etc 1.9 

4.  Flatfoot,  etc 1.6 

5.  Spinal  Curvature,  etc 1.5 

6.  Ear  Diseases  1.0 

The  predominating  importance  of  visual  impairments,  accounting  for 
rejections  of  6.1  per  cent,  of  all  the  examined  and  32.5  per  cent,  of 
all  rejections,  is  not  explained  by  the  available  information  as  regards 
the  military  rules  and  regulations  covering  army  rejections  on  this 
ground.  It  is  difficult  to  assume  that  visual  defects  are  proportionately 
so  very  much  more  common  in  Holland  than  in  Germany,  and  the  high- 
frequency  figure  is  probably  governed  exclusively  by  rules  and  regula- 
tions, for  in  Germany,  where  errors  of  refraction  are  known  to  be 
exceptionally  common,  and  perhaps  more  so  than  in  any  other  country, 
the  proportion  of  rejections  for  this  cause  was  only  2.0  per  cent.,  and, 
including  blindness  and  all  other  diseases  of  the  eye,  only  3.1  per  cent. 

Of  special  importance  in  the  Dutch  recruiting  statistics  is  the  rela- 
tively high  rate  of  rejections  on  account  of  flatfoot  and  related  patho- 
logical conditions  of  the  feet.  No  details  are  provided,  but  in  the  Bel- 
gian statistics  flatfoot  accounts  for  rejections  of  0.27  per  cent,  of  the 
examined,  while  other  pathological  conditions  of  the  feet,  such  as 
excessive  sweating,  etc.,  account  for  0.7  per  cent. 

Finally,  the  very  high  figure  for  rejections  on  account  of  spinal  cur- 
vature, etc.,  in  the  Dutch  army  indicates  rather  exceptional  thorough- 
ness in  the  examinations  and  particular  attention  to  a  condition  prob- 
ably frequently  overlooked  or  ignored  in  other  countries.  In  the  Ger- 
man army  experience  rejections  on  account  of  spinal  curvature  repre- 
sent only  0.3  per  cent,  of  the  examined,  against  1.5  per  cent,  in  the 
Dutch  army.  The  condition  is  not  enumerated  at  all  in  the  Belgian 
statistics,  but  in  French  recruiting  the  proportion  of  those  rejected 
on  this  account  was  0.46  per  cent. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  SWEDISH  ARMY 
The  statistics  for  Sweden  are  for  the  period  1903-07,  diflferentiating 
those  of  the  age  period  21   and  those  of  older  ages.     As  might  be 

73 


expected,  the  two  groups  yield  somewhat  different  results,  and  as  illus- 
trating the  importance  of  the  age  factor,  which  is  almost  invariably 
ignored  in  recruiting  and  army  medical  statistics,  the  rejection  results 
are  presented  for  both  groups,  and  in  the  first  group  (age  21)  in 
the  order  of  their  importance. 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  SWEDISH  ARMY 

1903-1907 

Per  Cent.  Examined 
Age  21  Over  21 

1.  Diseases  of  the  Heart  and  Circulatory  Organs....  4.4  5.7 

2.  Diseases  of  Bones  and  Extremities 3.4  3.6 

3.  Deafness  and  Other  Diseases  of  the  Ears 1.6  1.1 

4.  Tuberculosis 1.6  2.9 

5.  Constitutional  Weakness  1.5  4.5 

6.  Diseases  of  the  Eyes 1.4  1.3 

The  Swedish  statistics  are  of  very  limited  practical  value  on  account 
of  the  grouping  of  the  causes,  as  best  illustrated  by  the  predominating 
importance  of  rejections  on  account  of  diseases  of  the  heart  and  cir- 
culatory organs.  Rejections  for  heart  impairments  require  differen- 
tiation as  to  whether  functional  or  organic.  Methods  of  examination 
vary  widely  in  the  different  armies  and  according  to  the  branch  of  the 
service.  In  modern  armies  with  a  thoroughly  developed  aviation  ser- 
vice the  rejections  for  even  minor  functional  heart  murmurs  are  of 
course  very  high.  A  man  may  be  rejected  for  the  aviation  service  al- 
though thoroughly  sound  and  efficient  for  some  other  branch  of  army 
work.  To  group  all  rejections  for  diseases  of  the  heart  and  circula- 
tory organs  with  mere  functional  defects  or  deficiencies  is  therefore 
scientifically  erroneous.  In  the  German  army  rejections  on  account 
of  diseases  of  the  heart  and  circulatory  organs  accounted  for  3.0  per 
cent.  There  are  no  corresponding  data  for  the  Austrian  army,  for 
which  the  information  is  limited  to  rejections  on  account  of  valvular 
heart  disease  alone,  accounting  for  0.24  per  cent,  of  the  examined. 

Equally  suggestive  in  the  Swedish  statistics  is  the  rather  high  ratio  of 
rejections  on  account  of  deafness  and  other  diseases  of  the  ear  (1.6  per 
cent.).  It  is  scientifically  erroneous  to  combine  defects  of  hearing  with 
ear  diseases  and  congenital  deafness.  It  is  even  more  misleading  to 
combine  deafness  and  mutism  in  one  classification,  as  is  the  case  in  the 
German  statistics,  which,  however,  return  defects  of  speech  separately. 
The  German  statistics  also  return  separately  diseases  of  the  ear,  ac- 
counting for  rejections  of  1.5  per  cent,  of  the  examined,  in  addition, 
however,  mutism  and  deaf-mutism  combined,  accounting  for  0.09  per 
cent.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  deafness  and  other  diseases  of 
the  ear  are  not  necessarily  exceptionally  common  as  a  cause  of  rejec- 
tion in  the  Swedish  army,  especially  when  compared  with  the  ratio  for 
Norway  of  2.5  per  cent. 

74 


CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  NORWEGIAN  ARMY 

The  statistics  for  Norway  are  for  the  period  1904-08,  on  the  basis 
of  the  examined,  but  they  are  unfortunately  not  available  in  sufficient 
detail  to  make  even  an  approximately  useful  comparison  possible  with 
the  corresponding  statistics  for  Sweden.  The  causes  of  rejection  are 
given  as  follows:  Diseases  of  the  extremities,  7.1  per  cent.,  diseases 
of  the  eyes,  4.4  per  cent.,  diseases  of  the  lungs,  2.6  per  cent.,  diseases 
of  the  ears,  2.5  per  cent.,  diseases  of  the  heart,  2.3  per  cent.,  and  hernia, 
2.2  per  cent.  The  statistics  for  both  Norway  and  Sweden  seem  to  in- 
dicate a  decidedly  lesser  proportion  of  rejections  for  bodily  weakness, 
anemia,  scrofula,  etc.,  than  met  with  in  the  recruiting  experience  of 
Germany,  Austro-Hungary  and  Italy. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  BRITISH  ARMY 

How  far  the  foregoing  statistics  of  causes  of  rejection  in  recruiting 
under  a  system  of  compulsory  military  service  can  be  compared  with 
the  corresponding  statistics  of  England  and  of  the  United  States  under 
a  condition  of  voluntary  military  service  previous  to  the  war  is,  of 
course,  an  open  question.  The  great  work  by  Schwiening  reflects  such 
a  degree  of  thoroughness  and  accuracy  that  it  has  seemed  best  for  the 
present  purposes  to  utilize  the  returns  included  by  him  for  England 
and  for  the  United  States  in  the  two  following  tables,  rather  than  to  re- 
compute the  available  official  statistics,  which  at  best  would  result  in 
only  minor  changes,  due  to  differences  in  classification,  etc.  For  Eng- 
land the  statistics  are  for  the  period  1906-10,  on  the  basis  of  the 
examined,  differentiating,  however,  those  rejected  outright  on  first  ex- 
amination and  those  rejected  within  three  months  after  conditional  ac- 
ceptance. The  latter  figures,  for  the  present  purpose,  are  of  minor 
importance  and  are  therefore  omitted. 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  RE-JECTION  IN  THE  BRITISH  ARMY 

1906-1910 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Deficient   Chest   Measure 5.3 

2.  Dental  Defects  and  Deficiencies 5.2 

3.  Visual  Defects 2.8 

4.  Diseases  of  the  Heart  2.8 

5.  Defects  of  Lower  Extremities 1.7 

6.  Varicose  Veins  1.4 

7.  Diseases  of  Veins  1.2 

8.  Below  Minimum  Stature    1.2 

9.  Below  Minimum  Weight    ^ 1.2 

10.  Flatfoot  0.9 

On  account  of  their  practical  importance  four  additional  principal 
causes  have  been  included  in  the  preceding  table.  It  is  self-evident 
that  the  results  cannot  be  strictly  compared  with  corresponding  sta- 
tistics concerning  rejections  in  connection  with  military  service  on  a 

75 


conscription  basis.  The  high  proportion  of  rejections  in  the  British 
army  on  account  of  deficient  chest  measurement  is  obviously  in  con- 
sequence of  a  miHtary  rule  not  necessarily  governed  by  necessity  or 
sound  anthropometric  considerations.  The  same  conclusion  applies  to 
defects  and  deficiencies  in  dental  development,  as  best  made  evident 
by  the  radical  change  in  the  rules  governing  this  matter  in  the  exami- 
nations of  the  United  States  Army  under  the  Second  Selective  Draft 
compared  or  contrasted  with  the  methods  under  the  First  Selective 
Draft.  The  English  statistics  are  rather  evidence  of  over-refinement 
in  rules  and  regulations  than  of  physical  inferiority  or  military  unfit- 
ness of  the  recruiting  material.  This  conclusion  applies  particularly 
to  the  relatively  high  proportion  of  rejections  on  account  of  dental  and 
visual  defects,  minimum  stature  and  minimum  weight. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  UNITED 

STATES  ARMY 

The  statistics  for  the  United  States  are  for  the  period  1906-10,  with 

a  differentiation  of  the  white  and  the  colored.    The  ten  principal  causes 

of  rejection  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  their  importance  for  the  white 

recruits. 

PRINCIPAL  CAUSES  OF  REJECTION  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  ARMY 
WHITE  AND  COLORED,  1906-1910 

Per  Cent.  Examined 
White  Colored 

1.  Diseases  of  the  Eyes,  and  Errors  of  Refraction  1.6  0,8 

2.  Venereal  Diseases  1.2  1.9 

3.  Diseases  of  Ears,  including  Defects  in  Hearing  1.1  0.3 

4.  Diseases  of  Heart 1.0  0.9 

5.  Underweight  0.8  0.4 

6.  Defective  Dentition  0.7  0.4 

7.  Alcoholism    0.7  0.3 

8.  Flatfoot    0.6  07 

9.  Hernia    0.5  05 

10.  Insufficient  Chest  Development.! 0.4  0.2 

These  results  for  the  United  States  are  so  very  much  at  variance 
with  the  corresponding  data  for  foreign  countries  that  the  main  cause 
of  the  differences  must  be  attributable  to  methods  of  selection  under 
the  voluntary  system.  The  three  principal  causes  of  rejection  are  of 
relatively  minor  military  importance,  as  best  made  evident  by  the  pro- 
found changes  in  examination  methods  under  the  Second  Selective 
Draft.  Diseases  of  the  heart,  which  account  for  about  1  per  cent,  of 
the  examined,  cannot  be  considered  relatively  important  when  con- 
trasted with  a  rejection  ratio  of  3  per  cent,  in  the  German  army.  Under- 
weight is  largely  governed  by  arbitrary  standards  and  not  necessarily 
of  pathological  significance.  The  relatively  high  ratio  of  rejections  on 
account  of  defective  dentition  is  largely  the  result  of  rules  and  regu- 
lations, which  under  the  Second  Selective  Draft  have  been  very  ma- 
terially modified.     The  same  conclusion  applies  to  alcoholism  and  to 


a  somewhat  lesser  degree  to  flatfoot  and  hernia.  The  rejection  ratio 
on  account  of  insufficient  chest  development,  which  is  numerically  of 
the  first  importance  in  the  British  experience,  is  relatively  unimportant 
in  the  American  experience,  or  only  0.4  per  cent,  of  the  examined, 
against  5.3  per  cent,  for  the  British  army  previously  to  the  war.  * 

For  the  colored  the  rejection  ratios  are  quite  different,  the  most  pro- 
nounced variation  being  in  the  lesser  degree  of  frequency  of  diseases 
of  the  eye  and  errors  of  refraction,  and  the  much  higher  degree  of 
frequency  of  venereal  diseases.  There  is  also,  however,  a  very  marked 
difference  in  the  lower  rejection  ratio  for  the  colored  on  account  of 
diseases  of  the  ear  and  defects  of  hearing,  as  well  as  defective  denti- 
tion, underweight,  alcoholism  and  insufficient  chest  develbpment.  The 
difference  in  the  rejection  on  account  of  flatfoot  is  not  as  marked  as 
generally  assumed  to  be  the  case,  the  respective  ratios  being  0.6  per 
cent,  for  the  white  recruits  and  0.7  per  cent,  for  the  colored. 

These  results  are  somewhat  modified  by  more  recent  statistics  for 
the  period  1910-15,  inclusive  of  the  entire  United  States  Army  and 
native  recruits  in  the  Philippines  and  Porto  Rico.  A  rather  serious 
practical  difficulty  is  the  relatively  large  proportion  of  rejections  on 
account  of  causes  not  physical  or  medical,  chiefly  rejections  based  on 
army  rules  and  regulations  not  bearing  directly  upon  the  physical  fit- 
ness of  the  examined  recruit  for  military  service.  For  the  white  and 
the  colored  recruits  combined  the  six  principal  causes  of  rejection  dur- 
ing the  period  under  review  were  as  follows : 

UNITED   STATES  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE,   1910-1915 
WHITE  AND  COLORED  Percent. 

Examined 

1.  Causes  not  Physical 2.19 

2.  Venereal  Diseases  1.23 

3.  Heart  Diseases  1.03 

4.  Ear  Diseases  and  Defective  Hearing 0.94 

5.  Eye  Diseases  and  Defects  of  Vision 0.80 

6.  Flatfoot  0.59 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION— WHITE  RECRUITS  ONLY 

Considering  separately  white  recruits  only,  the  results  were  as 
follows : 

UNITED   STATES  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE,   1910-1915 

WHITE  RECRUITS  ONLY  Per  Cent. 

Examined 

1.  Causes  not  Physical 2.20 

2.  Venereal  Diseases  1.11 

3.  Heart  Diseases  1.04 

4.  Ear  Diseases  and  Defective  Hearing 0.97 

5.  Eye  Diseases  and  Defects  of  Vision 0.82 

6.  Flatfoot  0.60 

*  From  this  table,  derived  as  stated  from  German  sources,  the  rejections  in  the  United 
States  Army  for  "causes  not  physical"  are  omitted.  This  group  of  causes,  however,  has  been 
included  in  the  tables  following,  so  as  to  facilitate  a  more  accurate  comparison  with  the 
corresponding  statistics  for  foreign  armies. 

11 


The  important  fact  disclosed  by  this  analysis  is  the  relatively  low 
proportion  of  rejections  for  venereal  diseases,  with  regard  to  which  the 
examination  and  rules  concerning  exclusion  in  the  United  States  Army 
are  in  all  probability  much  more  strict,  being  even  drastic,  than  those  in 
use  in  the  armies  of  continental  Europe.  As  might  be  expected,  the 
rejection  rate  for  venereal  disease  among  the  colored  recruits  was 
perceptibly  higher,  as  shown  by  the  table  following: 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION— COLORED  RECRUITS  ONLY 

UNITED   STATES  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE,   1910-1915 
COLORED  RECRUITS  ONLY 

•  Per  Cent. 

Examined 

L  Venereal  Diseases 2.86 

2.  Causes  not  Physical 2.00 

3.  Ear  Diseases  and  Defective  Hearing 0.90 

4.  Eye  Diseases  and  Defects  of  Vision 0,52 

5.  Flatfoot  0.49 

6.  Hernia  0.43 

It  is  rather  surprising  to  find  a  relatively  low  rate  of  rejections  on 
account  of  flatfoot  among  the  colored,  or  0.49  per  cent,  of  the  examined, 
against  0.60  per  cent,  for  the  white  recruits.  In  the  earlier  data  of 
Schwiening  for  the  period  1906-10  the  rejections  on  account  of  flatfoot 
among  the  white  recruits  were  0.57  per  cent,  of  the  examined,  against 
0.70  for  the  colored.  The  relative  frequency  of  flatfoot  among  the 
colored  is  in  all  probability  not  as  pronounced  as  often  assumed  to  be 
the  case  upon  superficial  inquiry  into  the  facts.  As  a  general  prin- 
ciple, however,  it  is  probably  safe  to  assume  that  flatfoot  is  more  com- 
mon among  colored  males  than  among  white  males  of  corresponding 
age.* 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION— NATIVE  AND  FOREIGN- 
BORN  RECRUITS 

A  comparison  of  native-born  recruits  with  those  of  foreign  birth  in 
the  United  States  Army  is  more  or  less  misleading,  on  account  of  ma- 
terial variations  in  the  age  distribution  of  the  examined.  The  foreign- 
born,  as  a  general  rule,  are  older  and  in  many  cases  have  had  previous 
military  experience  in  foreign  countries.  As  an  illustration,  however, 
of  the  marked  difference  in  the  health  and  physique  of  the  examined 
recruiting  material,  the  two  following  tables  show  the  six  principal 
causes  of  rejection  in  the  United  States  Army  experience  for  the  native 
and  foreign-born  white  applicants  for  military  service. 

*A  thoroughly  scientific  discussion  of  "The  Soldier's  Footas  an  Important  Feature  of 
an  Effective  Army,"  originally  contributed  to  American  Medicine  by  Harold  D.  Corbusier, 
M.  D.,  Major,  Medical  Officers'  Reserve,  United  States  Army,  has  been  reprinted  in  the 
Scientific  American  Supplement,  No.  2172,  for  August  18,  1917.  This  discussion  includes  in 
its  subdivision,  first,  the  exceptional  foot;  second,  the  doubtful  foot;  and,  third,  the  disqualified 
foot,  with  observations  on  special  pathological  conditions  and  remedial  considerations. 

78 


UNITED   STATES  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE,   1910-1915 
NATIVE  WHITES 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Causes  not  Physical 1.86 

2.  Venereal  Diseases  1.19 

3.  Heart  Diseases  1.06 

4.  Ear  Diseases  and  Defective  Hearing 0.96 

5.  Eye  Diseases  and  Defects  of  Vision 0.83 

6.  Flatfoot  0.58 

UNITED   STATES  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE,   1910-1915 
FOREIGN-BORN  WHITES 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Causes  not  Physical 4.08 

2.  Ear  Diseases  and  Defective  Hearing 1.05 

3.  Heart  Diseases  0.91 

4.  Eye  Diseases  and  Defects  of  Vision 0.77 

5.  Venereal  Diseases 0.75 

6.  Flatfoot  0.71 

The  most  important  difference  met  with  is  the  decidedly  higher 
ratio  of  rejections  among  the  foreign-born  on  account  of  causes  not 
physical,  which  in  all  probability  are  closely  related  to  age  and  pre- 
vious military  experience.  The  age  factor  also  probably  explains  the 
lower  ratio  among  the  foreign-born  of  rejections  on  account  of  vene- 
real diseases,  while  conversely  the  possibility  of  previous  miHtary  ex- 
perience has  a  bearing  upon  the  somewhat  higher  rejection  ratio  for 
flatfoot. 

CAUSES  OF  REJECTION— FILIPINO  AND  PORTO 
RICAN  RECRUITS 

Of  exceptional  interest  are  the  rejection  statistics  of  native  Filipinos 
and  native  Porto  Ricans,  limited,  however,  for  the  present  purpose  to 
the  period  1912-15.  Prior  to  1912  only  causes  responsible  for  more 
than  one  rejection  per  annum  were  reported,  so  that  a  consolidation 
of  the  statistics  for  the  earlier  period  would  be  misleading. 

UNITED  STATES  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE,  1912-1915 

FILIPINOS 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Eye  Diseases  and  Defects  of  Vision 0.85 

2.  Heart  Diseases 0.78 

3.  Tuberculosis 0.72 

4.  Causes  not  Physical 0.66 

5.  Underweight   0.57 

6.  Ear  Diseases  and  Defective  Hearing 0.41 

79 


UNITED  STATES  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE,  1912-1915 
PORTO  RICANS 

Per  Cent. 
Examined 

1.  Underweight   4.73 

2.  Insufficient  Chest  Development 1.40 

3.  Eye  Diseases  and  Defects  of  Vision 1.22 

4.  Defective  Development  1.13 

5.  Venereal  Diseases  1.05 

6.  Flatfoot  0.96 

Limited  in  numbers,  as  these  statistics  are,  for  the  FiHpino  and  the 
Porto  Rican  recruits,  they  are  nevertheless  of  exceptional  value  in 
emphasizing  the  probability  that  the  anthropometric  standards  ap- 
plied to  this  class  of  applicants  were  those  used  generally  for  the  Army 
of  the  Continental  United  States,  though  for  racial  and  other  reasons 
quite  inapplicable  in  view  of  material  variations  in  physique.  The 
results  leave  no  question  of  doubt  as  to  the  fact  that  many  FiHpino  and 
Porto  Rican  recruits  were  unnecessarily  rejected  because  of  non-con- 
formity to  anthropometric  standards  based  upon  a  heterogeneous  mass 
of  recruiting  material  of  totally  different  racial  origins.  It  requires  to  be 
kept  in  mind,  of  course,  that  undernourishment  is  probably  more  com- 
mon among  Porto  Ricans  and  Filipinos  than  among  white  and  colored 
recruits  of  the  mainland  of  the  United  States,  and  that  particularly  in 
the  case  of  the  Porto  Ricans,  the  former  excessive  frequency  of  anemia 
and  of  uncinariasis  have  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  relatively  exception- 
ally high  rejection  ratio  for  underweight.  * 

The  entire  recruiting  material  is  suggestive  of  the  need  of  decidedly 
more  qualified  consideration  of  questions  of  normal  physique  and  ab- 
normal departures  from  rational  standards  of  physical  development 
and  bodily  proportions,  if  serious  errors  are  to  be  avoided,  both  in  the 
direction  of  accepting  recruits  really  unfit  for  military  service  in  the 
field  and  in  the  direction  of  rejecting  men  thoroughly  qualified,  except 
in  possibly  minor  details,  for  service  demanding  even  the  extraordinary 
stress  and  strain  of  modern  warfare  on  land  and  sea. 


*  The  results  of  Some  Anthropometric  Measurements  of  Students  of  the  University  of 
Porto  Rico,  by  Fred  K.  Fleagle,  Dean  of  the  College  of  Liberal  Arts,  have  been  published 
in  the  Bulletin  of  the  University  of  Porto  Rico  under  date  of  January,  1917.  The 
measurements  include  1,412  students,  of  whom  616  were  males  of  an  average  age  of  19.59 
years.  The  measurements  are  of  special  value  in  that  they  are  for  single  years  and  for 
three  successive  dates,  including  twenty  separate  anatomical  factors  aside  from  height  and 
weight.  An  interesting  comparison  is  made  with  the  corresponding  measurements  of  Chilean 
boys  by  single  years  of  life,   16-20,  inclusive. 

With  special  reference  to  Filipinos,  see  the  Racial  Anatomy  of  the  Philippine  Islanders, 
by  R.   B.  Bean,  published  by  J.   B.   Lippincott  &  Company,  Philadelphia,   1910. 

The  physical  standards  applicable  chiefly  to  the  native-born  are  more  or  less  inapplicable 
to  Orientals.  See  in  this  connection  some  recent  statistics  on  the  height,  weight  and  chest 
measurements  of  healthy  Chinese  in  the  China  Medical  Journal,  for  May,  1918.  See,  also, 
the  tables  on  the  Average  Physical  Condition  of  the  applicants  examined  for  admission  to 
the  Imperial  Japanese  IV'avy,   Annual  Report,   1909-11,   Tokio. 


80 


PART  II 

RECENT  UNITED  STATES  ARMY 

MEDICAL  AND  REJECTION 

EXPERIENCE  DATA 

In  its  theoretical  as  well  as  practical  aspects  the  whole  problem  of 
army  anthropology  has  undergone  important  and  far-reaching  changes 
in  consequence  of  the  war.  A  method  of  selection  for  military  service 
during  a  prolonged  period  of  peace  must  necessarily  vary  considerably 
from  the  method  of  selection  of  men  for  active  service  in  the  field,  but 
much  more  so  w^hen  the  exhausting  effects  of  a  great  war  upon  the  man- 
power of  a  nation  demand  a  lesser  degree  of  rigid  conformity  to  theoret- 
ical principles  of  physical  fitness  for  military  duty.  The  experience  which 
has  now  been  had  in  the  United  States  with  the  First  Draft  under  the 
Selective  Service  Act  of  1917  is  obviously,  for  our  own  purposes,  at 
least,  of  over-shadowing  importance.  An  extended  and  admirable 
report  has  been  made  public  by  the  Provost-Marshal  General,  which, 
however,  still  leaves  many  important  questions  undecided.  The  vast 
extent  of  our  draft  experience  at  this  time  practically  precludes  a 
quaHfied  statistical  analysis  of  the  data,  however  important  the  results 
would  be  for  the  needs  of  anthropological  and  medical  science.  Unfort- 
unately, many  erroneous  conclusions  have  been  advanced  upon  the  basis 
of  the  experience  which  has  thus  far  been  had,  with  the  result  that 
many  far-reaching  misleading  arguments  are  being  advanced  and  left 
uncontradicted  by  an  appeal  to  a  statement  of  the  facts.  It,  for  illus- 
tration, has  been  alleged  that  "War  tests  show  that  the  nation  is  in 
feeble  health,"  and  that  "Ninety-nine  per  cent,  are  below  par."  No 
evidence  of  a  sufficiently  trustworthy  nature  has,  however,  been  forth- 
coming from  the  Provost-Marshal  General's  office  to  substantiate  these 
conclusions,  nor  in  support  of  the  further  exaggeration  that  "The  exact 
status  of  Americans'  physical  condition  is  disclosed  by  countrywide 
examinations  of  applicants  for  service,  and  the  verdict  is  all  but  alarm- 
ing." As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  only  analysis  of  the  causes  of  physical 
rejection  which  has  thus  far  been  made  by  the  Provost-Marshal  Gen- 
eral's office  concerns  10,258  recruits  out  of  a  total  of  3,082,949  men 
called  for  examination  and  hearing,  of  which  730,756  were  examined 
and  rejected  on  physical  grounds,  or  23.7  per  cent.  Eliminating  those 
who  were  merely  given  a  hearing,  it  appears  that  2,510,706  men  were 

81 


physically  examined  by  the  Boards  and,  it  is  to  be  assumed  in  each  and 
every  case,  by  a  qualified  medical  examiner,  and  that  of  this  number 
730,756,  or  29.11  per  cent.,  were  rejected.  These  rejections,  however, 
were  only  in  the  first  instance  by  Local  Boards.  Subsequently,  of 
561,000  men  examined  by  Boards  of  Appeal,  of  which  number  413,384 
had  arrived  in  camp  by  November  20,  the  number  rejected  by  camp 
surgeons,  and  it  may  be  assumed  on  the  basis  of  a  more  rigid  ex- 
amination made  under  more  satisfactory  conditions,  was  22,989,  or 
5.8  per  cent.  If  it  is  therefore  assumed  that  this  percentage  would 
apply  to  the  entire  730,756  men  rejected  for  so-called  "physical" 
reasons  by  Local  Boards,  it  would  appear  that  34.91  per  cent,  of  the 
men  physically  examined  by  the  Boards  were  considered  totally  unfit 
for  active  military  service. 

DISCRETIONARY  POWERS  IN  PHYSICAL  EXAMINATIONS 

In  the  words  of  the  Provost-Marshal  General,  "Doubtless  the  Local 
Boards  varied  extremely  in  the  strictness  of  their  examinations.  But 
so  also,  it  seems,  did  thei  camp  surgeons."  The  experience  shows 
"that  the  percentage  of  rejections  at  camp  varied  between  0.72  per 
cent,  and  11.87  per  cent.;  and  as  the  physical  condition  of  the  men 
from  the  different  regions  cannot  entirely  account  for  this,  it  must  be 
attributable  in  part  to  differences  of  strictness  in  the  examinations  by 
the  camp  surgeons."  As  to  the  important  question  whether  the  Surgeon 
General's  rules  for  physical  examination,  as  set  forth  in  the  directions 
to  the  Local  Boards,  were  stricter  than  necessary  for  securing  efficient 
fighting  men,  it  is  said  that  on  this  point  "the  civilian  surgeons  have 
expressed  variant  opinions,"  and  a  large  majority  "consider  that  the 
physical  requirements  are  not  too  exacting,"  but  "a  considerable  number 
deem  the  requirements  too  strict  in  many  respects,  notably  as  to  the 
weight  and  height  relation,  teeth,  eyes  and  feet,  and  contend  that  the 
regulations  as  strictly  applied  tend  to  exclude  many  capable  and  effi- 
cient men."  If  a  tendency  towards  over-emphasis  upon  relatively 
unimportant  physical  or  other  factors  concerning  health  and  physique 
was  at  all  pronounced  in  connection  with  the  original  examinations 
by  the  civilian  surgeons  of  the  Boards  and  subsequently  by  the  army 
surgeons  at  the  camps,  it  is  self-evident  that  a  fairly  large  proportion 
of  men  must  have  been  rejected  on  so-called  "physical  grounds," 
although  quite  probably  of  normal  physique  and  average  power  of 
endurance  as  determined  by  standards  such  as  would  govern  in  the 
acceptance  of  risks  for  life  insurance.  It  is  therefore  most  regrettable 
that  an  analysis  should  only  have  been  made  of  the  causes  of 
rejection  of  10,258  recruits  at  eight  different  camps,  which  would  indi- 
cate that  the  rejections  were  by  army  surgeons  and  not  by  civilian 
medical  examiners  in  connection  with  the  examinations  made  under 
the  direction  of  the   Boards.     The  latter,  unquestionably,   are  more 

82 


lenient  than  the  former,  and  probably  subject  to  an  even  larger  degree 
of  variation  than  the  indicated  range  from  0.72  per  cent,  for  Camp 
Riley  to  11.87  per  cent,  for  Camp  Deven.  The  table  following  has 
been  rearranged  so  as  to  show  the  causes  for  physical  rejection  and 
their  percentage  distribution  in  the  order  of  their  importance  as  given 
in  the  Provost-Marshal  General's  report  made  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
under  date  of  December  20,  1917. 

CAUSES     FOR     PHYSICAL     REJECTION    BY    CAMP     SURGEONS- 
NATIONAL  ARMY  EXPERIENCE  UNDER  FIRST  DRAFT  OF 
THE  SELECTIVE  SERVICE  ACT  OF  1917 

Causes  for  Physical  Rejection  Number  Per  Cent. 

Eye  2,224  21.68 

Teeth  871  8.50 

Hernia  766  7.47 

Ear  , 609  5.94 

Heart  Diseases  602  5.87 

Tuberculosis    551  5.37 

Mentally  Deficient  465  4.53 

Genito-urinary  (Venereal)  438  4.27 

Physical  Undevelopment  416  4.06 

Nervous  Disorders    (General  and  Local) 387  3.77 

Flatfoot  375  3.65 

Joints  346  3.37 

Bones 304  2.96 

Blood  Vessels  191  1.86 

Underweight    163  1.59 

Respiratory 161  1.56 

Genito-urinary    (Non-venereal)    142  1.39 

Skin   118  1.15 

Ill-defined  or   Not-specified 93  .91 

Digestive  System  82  .80 

Alcoholism   and   Drug   Habit 79  .77 

Muscles  66  .64 

Not  stated 809  7.89 

Total  number  of  cases  of  physical  rejections   con- 
sidered        10,258  100.00 

NEGATIVE  EVIDENCE  OF  PHYSICAL  DETERIORATION 
This  table  is  of  exceptional  importance.  It  fails  in  every  way  to 
sustain  the  conclusion  so  frequently  advanced  by  sensational  writers 
that  the  medical  examinations  under  the  First  Selective  Draft  have 
brought  to  light  a  truly  astonishing  amount  of  physical  impairment 
and  military  inefficiency  on  the  part  of  the  men  of  the  draft-age  period, 
21  to  30,  inclusive.  The  table  shows  that  21.68  per  cent,  of  the 
rejections  were  for  diseases  of  the  eye,  followed  by  a  proportion  of 
8.5  per  cent,  of  the  rejections  for  defective  teeth.     Since  defects  of 

83 


hearing  accounted  for  5.94  per  cent,  of  the  total  rejections,  it  appears 
that  36.12  per  cent,  of  all  the  rejections  were  due  to  defects  or 
deficiencies  of  the  eye,  the  ear  and  the  teeth.  How  far  these  defects 
are  remediable  is,  of  course,  an  important  question,  but  certainly  no 
alarming  assertions  are  justified  regarding  national  physical  deteriora- 
tion as  disclosed  by  this  very  limited  basis  of  exact  information  for 
a  relatively  small  proportion  of  the  men  examined  under  the  Selective 
Service  Draft 

A  further  examination  of  the  details,  in  fact,  affords  much  ground 
for  satisfaction  and  evidence  that  the  physical  condition  of  the  young 
men  examined  was  indeed  in  many  respects  a  remarkably  satisfactory 
one.  Out  of  10,258  men  only  79,  or  0.77  per  cent.,  were  rejected  on 
account  of  alcoholism  and  drug  habits.  The  proportion  rejected  for 
venereal  diseases  was  4.27,  which  is  high,  but  not  excessive.  Physical 
underdevelopment  accounted  for  4.06  per  cent,  of  the  total  rejections, 
aside  from  1.59  per  cent,  for  underweight.  More  important  are  the 
rejections  for  tuberculosis,  or  5.37  per  cent,  of  the  total,  and  for  non- 
tuberculous  respiratory  diseases,  or  1.56  per  cent.  Heart  diseases  are 
represented  by  5.87  per  cent,  and  nervous  disorders,  general  and  local, 
by  Z.77  per  cent.,  aside  from  4.53  per  cent,  for  mental  deficiency. 
There  is  nothing  alarming  in  these  figures,  which,  of  course,  require 
to  be  used  for  practical  purposes  with  extreme  caution.  Erroneous  con- 
clusions might  easily  be  drawn  from  the  fact,  for  illustration,  that  rejec- 
tions for  hernia  are  represented  by  7.47  per  cent,  of  the  total ;  but  under 
the  new  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Provost-Marshal  General's  office 
the  ratio  of  rejections  on  this  account  will  be  very  much  reduced.  The 
same  conclusion  applies  to  flatfo'ot,  which  accounts  for  a  rejection 
proportion  of  3.65  per  cent.,  but  which  under  the  revised  rules  will  be 
reduced  to  a  much  smaller  proportion. 

In  other  words,  it  is  largely  a  question  of  rules  and  regulations  rather 
than  of  physical  facts  and  conditions.  The  very  term  "physical  rejec- 
tions" as  used  in  the  Provost-Marshal  General's  report  is  a  rather 
misleading  one,  since  there  are  included  a  considerable  proportion  of 
causes  which  are  not  physical  in  a  strict  sense,  but  pathological,  or  so 
ill-defined  or  not  specified  as  not  to  permit  of  being  classified  or 
precisely  stated. 

IMPORTANT  CHANGES  IN  RULES  AND  REGULATIONS 

The  original  rules  and  regulations  governing  the  physical  examina- 
tion of  recruits  or  conscripts  under  the  Selective  Service  Law  were 
promulgated  by  the  Secretary  of  War  under  date  of  November  8,  1917. 
These  rules  have  been  materially  modified  by  the  revised  regulations 
of  the  office  of  the  Provost-Marshal  General,  made  public  under  date 
of  January  28,  1918.  The  modifications  have  practically  all  been 
decidedly  in  the  direction  of  a  lesser  degree  of  exact  conformity  to 

84 


theoretical  principles  and  a  more  rational  adaptation  to  practical  service 
requirements,  and  if  they  had  been  applied  in  the  original  examina- 
tions and  rejections  under  the  First  Draft,  the  proportion  of  rejections 
would  unquestionably  have  been  substantially  reduced.  The  general 
assumption  of  a  single  rule  of  action  as  to  fitness  for  military  service 
has,  fortunately,  been  radically  changed,  and  hereafter  the  men 
accepted  will  be  classified  into  four  groups,  as  follows : 

(A)  Acceptable  for  general  military  service;  (B)  acceptable  for 
general  military  service  after  being  cured  of  remediable  defect;  (C) 
acceptable  for  special  or  limited  military  service  in  a  specified  capacity 
or  occupation;  (D)  rejected  and  exempted  from  any  military  service. 

Under  this  plan  of  reclassification  according  to  physical  condition, 
in  a  restricted  sense  of  the  term,  provision  will  be  made  for  the 
military  utilization  of  a  much  larger  proportion  of  conscripts  or 
recruits  than  has  heretofore  been  possible.  It  is  stated  to  be  the  inten- 
tion of  the  Provost-Marshal  General  to  provide  later  for  further  inves- 
tigation and  reclassification  of  men  acceptable  for  limited  or  special 
service,  so  that  each  and  every  one  may  be  assigned  to  the  kind  of 
work  least  likely  to  endanger  his  health. 

EXAMINATIONS  BY  OFFICERS  OF  THE  LINE 
The  possibilities  of  a  material  saving  in  effective  man-power  by 
means  of  more  careful  and  rational  methods  of  physical  selection  are 
clearly  emphasized  by  the  table  following,  which  has  been  derived 
from  the  annual  reports  of  the  Adjutant  General  for  the  five-year 
period  1913-17: 

RECRUITING  STATISTICS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ARMY 
ADJUTANT  GENERAL'S  REPORTS 

1913-1917 
Enlistments  at  Recruiting  Stations 


Total 

Number  of 

Number  of 

Accepted  and 

Fiscal 

Number  of 

Applicants 

Applicants 

Later  Rejected 

Year 

Applicants 

Rejected 

Per  Cent. 

Accepted 

Per  Cent. 

at  Army  Posts 

1913 

123.664 

98,927 

80.0 

24,737 

20.0 

3,469 

1914 

168,527 

127,317 

75.5 

41,210 

24.5 

5.308 

1915 

168,842 

123,731 

73.3 

45,111 

26.7 

5,866 

1916 

133,090 

102,097 

76.7 

30,993 

23.3 

4,194 

1917 

367,579 

187,388 

51.0 

180,191 

49.0 

17,256 

Total     961,702  639,460  66.5  322,242  33.5  36,093 

According  to  this  table,  out  of  961,702  appHcants  for  military  serv- 
ice, 639,460,  or  66.5  per  cent.,  were  rejected.  All  of  these  rejections 
were,  as  far  as  known,  on  the  basis  of  examinations  made  by  non- 
medical officers  of  the  line.  The  rejection  ratio,  however,  varied  from 
80  per  cent,  in  1913  to  51.0  per  cent,  during  1917.    The  very  substantial 

85 


reduction  in  the  rejection  rate  during  1917  was  naturally  in  conse- 
quence of  a  lesser  degree  of  severity  in  the  initial  examinations  by  non- 
medical officers  of  the  line.  It  is  the  practice,  however,  to  re-examine 
the  recruits  at  recruiting  depots  and  depot  posts,  chiefly,  it  is  under- 
stood, by  medical  officers  of  the  Army.  Out  of  337,599  men  thus 
subjected  to  re-examination  during  the  period  1913-17,  the  number 
rejected  was  37,938,  or  11.2  per  cent.  No  statistics  are  available  to 
show  what  proportion  of  rejected  applicants  would  have  been  accept- 
able to  the  army  authorities  if  re-examined  by  army  medical  officers 
in  conformity  to  the  same  method  which  prevails  in  the  case  of  the 
re-examination  of  accepted  applicants.  The  medical  rejection  ratio  of 
the  re-examined  was  13  per  cent,  in  1913,  11.6  per  cent,  in  1914,  11.5 
per  cent,  in  1915,  14.1  per  cent,  in  1916,  but  only  10.3  per  cent,  in  1917. 
The  lower  medical  rejection  rate  in  1917  may  therefore  be  accepted 
as  evidence  that  the  rejections  in  a  measure  were  affected  by  the 
necessities  of  the  war.  The  new  method  of  examination  and  re-exam- 
ination will  probably  continue  for  the  duration  of  the  war.  The  new 
instructions  to  examiners  are  based  in  a  large  measure  upon  the  prac- 
tical experience  which  has  been  had  under  the  First  Selective  Draft. 

EXAMINATIONS  BY  CIVIL  MEDICAL  OFFICERS 
OF  LOCAL  BOARDS 
Among  the  numerous  contributions  which  have  been  made  to  the 
literature  of  the  subject  by  medical  experts  of  national  reputation,  a 
discussion  on  "The  Examination  of  Registrants,"  by  M.  L.  Harris, 
M.  D.,  Medical  Member  of  the  District  Appeal  Board,  Chicago,  is  of 
exceptional  importance.    According  to  Dr.  Harris, 

When  the  first  draft  started,  it  was  entirely  a  new  experience  to  the  people 
of  this  country.  The  rules  and  regulations  were  so  drawn  as  to  place  the 
carrying  out  of  the  provisions  of  the  act  in  the  hands  of  the  people;  in  fact, 
the  act  itself  forbade  any  one  connected  with  the  military  establishment  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  execution  of  the  draft.  The  personnel  of  the  boards, 
local  and  district,  was  made  up  of  civilians,  both  lay  and  professional,  none  of 
whom  had  had  any  experience  in  the  selection  of  men  for  the  Army.  Prac- 
tically all  of  the  members  of  the  boards  labored  under  the  disadvantage  of 
having  no  opportunity  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  work  to  be  done  until 
they  were  appointed  to  the  positions  and  ordered  to  proceed  at  once  with  the 
draft.  It  is  no  wonder,  then,  that  things  did  not  go  at  all  times  as  smoothly 
as  they  should  have  gone;  it  is  no  wonder  that  there  were  differences  of 
opinion  and  even  a  lack  of  harmony  between  the  various  boards,  which  a 
better  understanding  of  the  work  to  be  done  would  have  avoided. 

These  observations  apply  with  special  force  to  the  question  of 
height,  weight  and  chest  expansion.  Even  though  in  the  large  majority 
of  cases  the  results  were  quite  satisfactory,  as  observed  by  Dr.  Harris, 
it  requires  to  be  thoroughly  understood  "that  the  question  which  the 
physician  is  to  determine  when  a  person  presents  himself  for  exami- 
nation is  not  what  ailment,  if  any,  he  may  have,  but  whether  he  is  fit 

86 


or  unfit  to  do  military  service."  For,  he  continues,  ''These  are  not 
necessarily  synonymous,  for  there  are  certain  ailments  which  a  person 
may  have  and  still  be  fit  for  military  service;  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  may  be  unfit  for  service  without  there  being  any  special  physical 
disability."  It  is  self-evident  that  it  must  often  be  a  most  difficult 
matter  to  decide  whether  or  not  a  certain  condition  really  unfits  one 
for  service,  and  it  is  therefore  particularly  significant,  as  pointed  out 
by  Dr.  Harris,  "that  the  rules  and  regulations  are  not  definite  and 
clear  on  the  subject,"  and  that  "therefore  much  is  necessarily  left  to 
the  judgment  of  the  examining  physician."  These  conclusions  were 
arrived  at,  however,  before  the  new  rules  and  regulations  of  the 
Provost-Marshal  General's  of^ce  were  made  public.  In  answer  to  the 
important  question  whether  the  rejection  statistics  are  really  conclusive 
as  regards  the  physical  condition  of  the  registrants  or  merely  a  statis- 
tical enumeration  of  the  principal  causes  of  rejection  on  the  ground 
of  unfitness  for  mihtary  service.  Dr.  Harris,  on  the  basis  of  his  own 
experience,  states  (Journal  American  Medical  Association,  January 
19,  1918)  that 

When  the  registrant  alleged  more  than  one  ailment,  which  was  very  common, 
he  was  examined  first  for  the  most  important  one  from  a  disqualifying  sense. 
For  instance,  one  might  complain  of  bad  eyes,  trouble  with  his  stomach,  and 
rheumatism.  The  eyes  would  be  examined  first,  and  if  the  vision  was  found 
to  be  so  defective  as  positively  to  disqualify  the  man,  no  time  was  spent  in 
investigating  his  other  complaints.  It  should  be  understood  that  the  purpose 
of  the  examination  is  to  determine  the  fitness  or  unfitness  of  the  registrant 
for  military  service,  not  to  make  a  complete  clinical  diagnosis  such  as  one 
would  do  in  practice.  Hence,  just  as  soon  as  a  condition  is  found  which  under 
the  rules  and  regulations  positively  disqualifies  the  man  for  military  service, 
the  examination  need  not  be  further  extended.  This,  of  course,  applies  to 
examinations  on  appeal,  as  it  is  necessary  in  all  cases  for  the  local  board  to 
make  a  complete  examination  and  fill  out  a  blank  form  as  required  by  the 
rules  and  regulations. 

It  would  appear  from  this  statement  that  a  complete  examination  of 
the  registrant  is  made  by  the  Local  Board,,  but  that  only  a  single  ques- 
tion, as  a  rule,  receives  consideration  with  the  Board  of  Appeal.  If  this 
conclusion  is  entirely  correct,  the  value  of  the  rejection  statistics  by 
causes  would  be  materially  enhanced.  Unfortunately,  it  is  said 
that  under  the  First  Draft,  at  least,  "The  rules  laid  down  for  the 
guidance  of  physicians  are  quite  incomplete  and  often  ambiguous,  so 
that  much  was  left  to  the  unaided  judgment  of  the  examiner," 
since  many  had  "perhaps  little  or  no  experience  in  selecting  men  for 
the  army,  errors  in  judgment  are  not  uncommon."  The  greatest  number 
of  errors,  according  to  Dr.  Harris,  was  made  in  the  examination  of 
the  eyes.  Since,  according  to  the  Provost-Marshal  General's  analysis, 
visual  defects  accounted  for  21.68  per  cent,  of  all  the  rejections  for 
physical  reasons,  this  element  of  error  assumes  special  significance. 
In  contrast,  however,  overlooked  cases  of  pulmonary  tuberculosis  were 
ascertained  on  appeal,  even  though  some  of  the  applicants  "had  been 

87 


for  some  time  inmates  of  the  Municipal  Tuberculosis  Sanatorium  of 
the  city  of  Chicago."  There  were  some  cases  of  deficiency  in  height 
or  weight,  or  both  combined.  Dr.  Harris  observes  in  this  connection 
that  "As  the  regulations  prescribe  61  inches  as  the  minimum  height, 
and  as  our  instructions  were  to  make  no  concessions  below  61  inches, 
of  course  all  who  fell  below  that  height  had  to  be  rejected."  "In  the 
matter  of  weight,  however,"  he  remarks,  "more  discretion  is  allowed 
when  the  individual  is  otherwise  in  good  physical  condition."  He 
makes  reference  to  one  rejection  on  account  of  underweight  where  the 
actual  weight  was  110>4  pounds  at  the  time  of  the  examination, 
whereas  the  prescribed  minimum  for  applicant's  weight  was  112  pounds. 
His  chest  measure  was  V/^  inches  in  excess  of  the  measurement  required 
according  to  his  height,  and  he  was  otherwise  physically  sound.  This 
applicant  had  tried  in  every  possible  way  to  procure  exemption,  and 
the  conclusion  was  that  "he  deHberately  reduced  his  weight,  as  his 
general  condition  was  very  good."  Evidently  cases  of  this  kind  cannot 
be  accepted  as  evidence  of  physical  inferiority  or  physical  deterioration, 
for,  quite  to  the  contrary,  the  lesser  weight,  under  given  conditions, 
may  be  an  advantage  rather  than  otherwise.  The  final  recommenda- 
tion of  Dr.  Harris  is  therefore  sound : 

As  the  great  majority  of  the  men  composing  these  boards  are  inexperienced 
in  this  particular  kind  of  work,  and  as  many  new  questions  will  come  to  them 
for  solution,  it  would  be  very  advantageous  if  there  were  some  one  of  experi- 
ence in  the  Provost-Marshal  General's  office  to  whom  they  could  turn  for 
advice.     Strange  as  it  may  seem  there  is  not  a  physician  attached  to  that  office. 

ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE  IN  GREATER  NEW  YORK 
Another  contribution  of  real  value  to  the  subject  matter  under 
consideration  is  by  Dr.  Edward  F.  Hurd,  of  New  York,  based  upon 
the  work  done  by  the  examining  physicians  of  the  Local  Board  for 
Division  20,  Bronx,  New  York  City  (J.  A.  M.  A.,  January  5,  1918). 
In  this  case  the  medical  member  of  the  Board  had  secured  as  his  asso- 
ciates six  other  physicians  of  the  Bronx,  all  of  whom  but  one  had 
for  many  years  been  engaged  in  the  general  practice  of  medicine. 
The  exception  was  a  specialist  in  diseases  of  the  eye,  ear,  nose  and 
throat.  The  men  were  examined  in  groups  of  ten  in  the  gymnasium  of 
the  New  York  University,  and  after  having  been  asked  a  few  questions 
made  mandatory  by  the  Selective  Draft  Law,  the  procedure  was  as 
follows : 

The  man  was  then  told  to  retire  behind  the  screen.  When  he  stepped,  stripped, 
from  behind  the  screen,  he  was  taken  in  charge  by  the  first  physician,  who 
weighed  him  and  took  his  height  and  chest  measurement.  He  was  then  passed 
to  the  second  physician,  who  examined  his  teeth,  nose  and  throat,  and  made  a 
general  inspection  for  deformities  and  abnormalities,  including  fiatfoot,  hammer- 
toe, etc.  The  third  physician  examined  by  stethoscope  the  heart  and  the  lungs. 
The  fourth  covered  hernia,  varicocele,  hemorrhoids  and  history  as  to  venereal 
disease;  if  any  question  elicited  a  suspicion  of  diabetes  or  nephritis,  a  sample 

88 


of  urine  was  obtained  in  the  presence  of  the  physician,  and  a  university  professor 
of  chemistry  made  the  examination  at  once,  the  result  being  known  before  the 
man  was  dressed.  The  fifth  physician  was  stationed  in  a  small  room  fitted  with 
Snellen's  test  cards,  and  there  examined  the  eyes  and  the  ears.  The  physical 
examination  blank  was  passed  from  physician  to  physician,  each  making  a  record 
of  his  findings. 

It  is  explained  by  Dr.  Hurd  that  if  during  the  course  of  the  exami- 
nation any  physician  detected  a  condition  which  he  considered  sufficient 
to  disqualify  the  registrant,  he  consulted  the  sixth  physician,  who  was  on 
duty  for  re-examination.  These  two  failing  to  agree,  they  appealed  to  the 
board  physician:  the  verdict  of  the  three  was  final.  It  is  stated  that 
under  the  foregoing  arrangement  it  was  possible  "in  a  few  hours  to 
examine  175  men  with  such  thoroughness  that  to  date,  with  70  per 
cent,  of  the  quota  in  camp,  not  a  man  has  been  returned  because 
physically  deficient."  Before  leaving  the  building,  each  man  was  in- 
formed as  to  the  result  of  his  physical  examination  and  given  an 
opportunity  to  file  a  claim  for  exemption  or  discharge,  the  chairman 
of  the  Local  Board  taking  charge  of  this  branch  of  the  work. 

EFFECTS  OF  DISCRETIONARY  POWERS  ON  THE 
REJECTION  RATE 

The  actual  results  under  this  procedure  in  1,800  cases  were  as 
follows :  The  number  of  rejections  for  physical  reasons  was  705,  or 
39.2  per  cent,  of  the  total.  It  is  stated  by  Dr.  Hurd  that  "This  seems 
a  staggering  proportion  of  unfitness  among  men  between  the  ages  of 
21  and  31,  a  time  when  physical  perfection  is  most  Hkely  to  be  found; 
but  when  we  consider  that  232  of  these  were  underweight,  a  condition 
which  may  not  mean  any  permanent  physical  defect,  the  high  rate 
becomes  more  readily  understandable."  He  explains,  however,  that 
"This  figure  would  have  been  much  higher  had  not  the  examining 
physician  departed  from  the  arbitrary  dictum  of  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions as  to  relative  weight  and  height."  "In  cases  in  which  the  subject, 
although  underweight,  was  in  all  other  essentials  in  good  physical 
condition,  he  exercised  his  personal  judgment  to  the  effect  that  camp 
life  would  probably  improve  the  weight,  and  accepted  the  man.  Con- 
versely, of  overweights :  none  of  the  latter  were  rejected  unless  really 
obese."  With  reference  to  the  232  men  underweight,  the  greatest 
number  were  aged  29;  the  smallest  27.  It  is  therefore  evident  that 
the  group  under  review  was  not  sufficiently  large  for  entirely  safe  con- 
clusions. Out  of  477  native-born  registrants,  151,  or  31.7  per  cent., 
were  underweight;  out  of  149  Russians,  66,  or  44.3  per  cent.,  were 
underweight.  Since  the  army  standard  is  the  same  for  all  races,  in 
disregard  of  the  fact  of  decided  anthropometric  variations,  conclusions 
based  upon  these  percentages  are  certain  to  be  misleading. 

Other  causes  of  rejection  were:  flatfoot,  22;  varicocele,  15;  bad 
teeth,  20;  tuberculosis,  4;  bad  eyes,  30;  deformities,  including  hammer- 
toe, etc.,  36;  varicose  veins,  etc.,  8;  obesity,  22;  albuminuria,  11;  bad 

89 


ears,  3;  other  causes,  including  insanity,  33.  These  statistics  cannot 
be  considered  evidence  of  a  really  serious  degree  of  physical  deteriora- 
tion, or,  in  a  considerable  proportion  of  cases,  as  obvious  evidence  of 
unfitness  for  military  service.  Nevertheless,  the  conclusions  of  Dr. 
Hurd  are  entitled  to  weight,  being  in  brief,  that 

The  findings  of  this  board  show  that  men  of  draft  age  who  hold  clerical 
positions  are  the  poorest  physical  specimens.  We  shall  waive  the  question 
whether  deficient  physical  equipment  impelled  these  men  toward  the  inactive 
occupation  of  the  clerk,  or  whether  the  sedentary  life  of  the  clerk  has  resulted 
in  poor  physical  condition:  there  is  probably  a  good  deal  to  be  said  on  both 
sides.  Undoubtedly  chronic  constipation,  lack  of  exercise  and  fresh  air,  with 
the  resulting  soft  flabby  muscles,  would  seem  to  be  the  principal  causes  of  under- 
weight and  hernia.  Take  these  men  out  of  their  stuffy  offices  and  put  them  into 
camp,  make  them  live  in  the  open  with  regular  exercise  and  regular  hours,  and 
they,  will  soon  be  brought  up  to  the  standard. 

The  statistical  tables  included  in  the  report  by  Dr.  Hurd  are  not  in 
conformity  to  standardized  methods  of  statistical  analysis.  The  causes 
of  rejections  according  to  age  are  not  correlated  to  the  corresponding 
numbers  of  men  examined,  so  that  the  true  rejection  ratio  for  different 
causes  cannot  be  determined  from  the  data  thus  far  made  available. 
It  is  properly  suggested,  however,  by  Dr.  Hurd,  that  "The  compilation 
of  such  data  from  all  districts  of  Greater  New  York  would  be  of 
enormous  statistical  value."  Such  statistics  would  be  practically  use- 
less, unless  compiled  in  a  proper  manner,  for  mere  data  on  the  subject 
of  army  rejections  are  certain  to  be  misused  by  those  who  are  wrong- 
fully alarming  the  public  as  regards  the  alleged  physical  deterioration 
of  American  men  of  military  age. 

MISLEADING  CONCLUSIONS  REGARDING  PHYSICAL  RE- 
JECTIONS UNDER  THE  FIRST  SELECTIVE  DRAFT 
Among  others  in  authority,  Prof.  D.  A.  Sargent,  Director  of 
Physical  Training  at  Harvard,  has  given  public  utterance  to  the  view 
that  "Any  one  who  has  read  the  Provost-Marshal  General's  recent 
report  and  noted  that  from  25  to  75  per  cent,  of  our  young  men  were 
exempted  from  military  service  on  account  of  physical  disability  and 
preventable  disease,  cannot  help  having  some  misgiving  as  to  the  future 
of  our  country."  Elsewhere  in  the  same  discussion,  on  "The  Draft's 
Showing  Up  of  Physical  Defects  of  Young  Americans  and  the 
Remedy,"  Prof.  Sargent  observes  that  "Yet  this  is  the  condition  of 
the  United  States  today,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  over  50  per  cent,  of 
our  young  men  have  been  rejected  as  unfit  for  military  service,  while 
the  country  is  spending  millions  upon  millions  at  the  training  camps 
in  trying  to  get  those  who  have  been  accepted  in  fit  condition  to  perform 
the  duties  of  a  soldier."  Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not  correct 
to  say  that  50  per  cent,  of  the  men  have  been  rejected  for  physical 
reasons,  or,  in  other  words,  on  the  ground  of  a  physical  impairment 
of  a  sufficient  degree  to  preclude  the  immediate  or  remote  possibility 

90 


of  efficient  military  service  in  the  field.  Of  all  the  men  examined,  at 
most  35  per  cent,  were  rejected  on  this  ground  and  in  conformity  to 
methods  of  examination  more  or  less  antiquated  and  inadequate  to 
the  present  purpose.  A  careful  examination  of  the  causes  of  rejections 
as  far  as  analyzed  proves  conclusively  that  probably  one-half,  if  not 
more,  were  not  of  a  sufficiently  serious  nature  to  justify  the  uncon- 
ditional rejection  of  the  registrant  or  conscript  as  unfit  for  military 
service  at  home  and  in  the  field. 

MISLEADING  USE  OF  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE 
UNDER  THE  VOLUNTARY  SYSTEM 
Even  more  misleading  are  the  rejection  data  which  have  been 
utilized  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Quayle,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  connection  with 
an  argument  for  the  "Reclamation  of  Men  Rejected  Under  the  Draft," 
however  admirable  the  suggestion  may  be  otherwise  concerning  the  far- 
reaching  possibilities  of  physical  rehabilitation.  Unquestionably,  much 
can  be  done  in  this  respect,  and  much  ought  to  be  done,  for  the  waste 
of  life  and  strength  because  of  ignorance  and  indifference  is  incal- 
culable, but  the  end  in  view  does  not  justify  the  misleading  use  of 
statistics  which  is  certain  to  unduly  alarm  the  public  and  lead  to 
entirely  erroneous  conclusions  on  the  important  question  of  physical 
status  and  physical  deterioration.  Dr.  Quayle  applies  the  rejection 
statistics  of  the  Surgeon  General's  report  for  a  single  year,  1916,  to 
the  9,000,000  men  called  out  under  the  draft,  of  which  it  is  alleged  only 
1,800,000  would  be  physically  fit,  and  7,200,000  would  be  rejected.  This 
conclusion  is  absolutely  grotesque  and  likely  to  hinder  rather  than  help 
the  cause  of  the  rehabilitation  of  those  properly  rejected  under  the 
draft.  The  argument  is  advanced  by  Dr.  Quayle  upon  the  hypothetical 
assumption  that  if  7,200,000  of  the  men  were  rejected,  among  others, 
938,232  would  be  suffering  from  venereal  diseases,  564,768  from  heart 
disease,  525,600  from  diseases  of  the  ear,  including  defects  of  hearing, 
421,704  from  diseases  of  the  eye,  including  defects  of  vision,  346,392 
from  flat  feet,  and  296,640  from  alcoholism.  There  are  no  statistics 
extant  which  justify  these  conclusions,  but  it  may  safely  be  asserted 
that  they  are  entirely  erroneous  and  grossly  at  variance  with  the  facts. 
For,  as  observed  in  the  earlier  discussion,  the  rejection  rate  experienced 
in  connection  with  the  selection  of  volunteers  for  army  service 
during  a  period  of  peace  is  not  evidence  of  the  physical  status  of  the 
nation,  and  not  even  of  the  class  of  men  examined.  Furthermore, 
recruiting  rejection  statistics  of  the  Army  as  reported  by  the  Surgeon 
General's  office  include  ages  18  to  44,  whereas  the  Selective  Draft 
experience  is  limited  to  ages  21  to  31.  The  fact,  also,  must  be  kept 
in  mind  that  voluntary  applicants  for  military  service  during  a  time 
of  peace  include  a  disproportionately  large  number  of  men  who  have 
lost  their  employment  because  of  dissipation  or  immoral  conduct,  etc., 
and  have  applied  to  the  Army  or  Navy  as  a  suitable  place  for  reform. 

91 


It  is  only  natural  that  among  this  element  the  proportion  rejected  on 
account  of  venereal  disease  and  alcoholism  should  be  relatively  high, 
for  the  statistics  of  the  Surgeon  General's  office  in  this  respect  are 
in  marked  contrast  to  the  results  of  the  very  limited  analysis  of  the 
causes  of  rejections  which  has  thus  far  been  made  by  the  Provost- 
Marshal  General's  office.  * 

COMPARATIVE  REJECTION  STATISTICS  OF  LIFE  INSUR- 
ANCE  EXPERIENCE 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  compare  the  ratio  of  rejections  in 
ordinary  life  insurance  experience  with  the  rejection  rate  in  the  United 
States  Army  previously  to  the  war.  All  such  comparisons  are  seriously 
misleading  and  absolutely  useless  for  practical  purposes.  The  army 
rejections  include  a  large  proportion  of  physical  causes  which  do  not 
constitute  a  serious  impairment  in  its  relation  to  life  expectancy.  Rejec- 
tions for  life  insurance  are  exceptionally  severe  with  reference  to 
habits,  as  best  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  experience  of  The 
Prudential  during  1911-15  the  rejections  on  account  of  alcohoHsm 
were  12.7  per  1,000  examined,  against  3.7  for  the  United  States  Army 
during  the  same  period.  In  contrast,  rejections  for  venereal  diseases 
are  relatively  low  in  life  insurance  experience,  largely,  of  course,  on 
account  of  the  fact  that  the  class  or  element  most  subject  thereto  is 
not  knowingly  solicited  for  life  insurance  purposes.  In  the  Prudential 
experience  the  rejection  rate  on  account  of  venereal  diseases  was  only 
1.1  per  1,000  examined,  against  12.5  for  the  United  States  Army.  On 
account  of  the  exceptional  care  exercised  in  life  insurance  examinations 
with  reference  to  the  condition  of  the  heart  and  of  the  urinary  organs 
the  rejection  rate  for  this  group  of  impairments  is  much  higher.  In 
the  Prudential  experience  the  rejection  rate  for  heart  diseases  was 
25.1  per  1,000,  against  10.2  for  the  United  States  Army,  for  respira- 
tory diseases  12.7,  against  2.9,  and  for  diseases  of  the  genito-urinary 
system  18.6,  against  2.8.  Combining  these  three  groups  of  organic  im- 
pairments it  appears  that  against  a  rejection  rate  of  56.4  per  1,000  on 
account  of  diseases  of  the  heart,  the  respiratory  organs  and  the  urinary 
system  in  the  Ordinary  experience  of  The  Prudential,  the  corresponding 
rejection  rate  in  the  United  States  Army  was  only  15.9. 

The  most  important  causes  of  rejection  in  the  United  States  Army 
are  relatively  uncommon  in  the  experience  of  a  representative  life 
insurance  company.  The  most  important  of  these  causes,  with  a  due 
regard  to  the  higher  average  age  of  insurance  appHcants,  are  as  follows : 

Weakness  of  mind.  Prudential,  0.4,  U.  S.  Army,  1.7;  varicose  veins, 
Prudential,  0.1,  U.  S.  Army,  1.6;  hernia.  Prudential,  0.1,  U.  S.  Army, 

*  This  rule  would  seem  to  indicate  that  upon  the  medical  ascertainment  of  a  single  mental 
Of  physical  disqualification  for  military  service,  no  further  medical  examination  is  made 
of  the  registrant  who  is  unconditionally  rejected.  The  resulting  statistics  therefore  require 
to  be  interpreted  with  extreme  caution,  since  many  important  mental  and  physical  defects 
would  no  doubt  be  ascertained  by  a  complete  examination  which  apparently  is  made  only 
in  the  case  of   registrants  considered  eligible   for  qualified  or  unconditional  acceptance. 

92 


3.5;  skin  diseases,  Prudential,  0.1,  U.  S.  Army,  2.3;  curvature  of  the 
spine,  Prudential,  none,  U.  S.  Army,  1.1;  flatfoot.  Prudential,  none, 
U.  S.  Army,  6.2;  other  diseases  of  organs  of  locomotion,  Prudential, 
none,  U.  S.  Army,  3.1 ;  defective  teeth,  Prudential,  none,  U.  S.  Army, 
2.4;  defects  of  development.  Prudential,  none,  U.  S.  Army,  2.5;  dis- 
eases of  the  ear,  including  defective  hearing.  Prudential,  0.7,  U.  S. 
Army,  9.6;  diseases  of  the  eye,  including  defects  of  vision,  Prudential, 
0.01,  U.  S.  Army,  8.0;  injuries.  Prudential,  none,  U.  S.  Army,  3.7; 
abnormal  height.  Prudential,  none,  U.  S.  Army,  0.4.  This  formidable 
group  of  impairments  accounts  in  the  aggregate  for  46.1  per  1,000  of 
the  rejections  in  the  U.  S.  Army,  against  only  1.4  in  the  experience  of 
The  Prudential.  But  aside  therefrom  22.9  per  1,000  were  rejected  for 
causes  not  physical  in  the  Army  for  which  there  are  no  corresponding 
rejections  in  the  experience  of  The  Prudential.  Among  the  physical 
causes,  however,  overweight  accounted  for  only  0.4  per  1,000  of  the 
rejections  in  the  Army,  against  5.1  in  the  experience  of  The  Prudential. 
This  difference  illustrates  precisely  the  effect  of  rigid  army  standards 
which  practically  preclude  the  application  of  men  obviously  over- 
weight. The  standards  of  examination  are  probably  more  restricted 
in  life  insurance  experience,  but  the  examination  itself  in  cases  of 
obesity  is  more  thorough,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  mortality  of 
persons  overweight  is  invariably  in  excess  of  those  of  normal  weight. 
On  account  of  underweight  the  rejections  in  the  Army  accounted 
for  2.7  per  1,000,  against  2.1  in  the  experience  of  The  PrudentiaL 
The  pathological  significance  of  underweight  is  considered  of  less 
serious  significance  at  the  present  time  than  in  former  years,  especially 
in  its  relation  to  a  predisposition  to  tuberculosis.  It  is  probably  of 
more  immediate  importance  in  its  relation  to  physical  endurance  in 
active  military  service. 

IMPORTANT  CHANGES  IN  THE  REJECTION  RULES  UNDER 
THE  SELECTIVE  DRAFT 
As  stated  elsewhere,  the  ratio  of  rejections  is  primarily  a  question  ot 
the  precise  army  regulations  governing  the  physical  examination.  The 
regulations  were  materially  changed  under  date  of  January  28,  1918, 
and  in  a  preliminary  statement  with  reference  thereto  it  is  said  that, 
"Physicians  on  the  Local  Board  are  not  required  to  make  a  complete 
examination  of  every  registrant."  The  moment  the  physician  on  the 
Local  Board  finds  a  mental  or  physical  defect  placing  the  registrant 
within  the  standards  of  unconditional  rejection  the  physician  on  the 
Board  is  required  to  indicate  the  fact  on  the  blank  and  refer  the  regis- 
trant to  the  Medical  Advisory  Board.  It  is  explained,  however,  that 
"Registrants  cannot  be  declared  physically  qualified  for  general  military 
service  until  the  complete  examination  has  been  made  by  the  physician 
on  the  Local  Board,  with  the  finding  that  the  candidate  comes  in  every 

93 


instance  within  the  standards  of  unconditional  acceptance  or  without 
remediable  defect."  The  new  regulations  provide  special  examina- 
tions and  standards  for  unconditional  rejection  and  for  unconditional 
acceptance,  with  or  without  remediable  defects  on  reference  to  the  Med- 
ical Advisory  Board.  The  final  classification  of  the  registrant  "physi- 
cally qualified  for  special  or  limited  military  service,"  depends  entirely 
upon  the  recommendations  of  the  Medical  Advisory  Board  and  not 
upon  the  action  of  the  Local  Board.  As  illustrations  of  the  lesser 
degree  of  rigid  conformity  to  earlier  theoretical  principles  of  examina- 
tion, the  following  are  of  interest : 

Chronic  alcoholism. — The  registrant  on  examination  must  show  suffused  eyes, 
prominent  superficial  blood-vessels  of  nose  and  cheek,  flabby,  bloated  face,  red 
or  pale  purplish  discoloration  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  pharynx  and  soft 
palate;  muscular  tremor  in  the  protruded  tongue  and  extended  fingers,  tremu- 
lous hand-writing,  emotionalism,  prevarication,  suspicion,  auditory  and  visual 
hallucinations,  persecutory  ideas.  The  history  or  evidence  that  the  registrant  has 
been  frequently  or  grossly  intoxicated  is  not  of  itself  sufficient  for  a  diagnosis  of 
chronic  alcoholism  and  rejection. 

Skin  Conditions. — Accept  registrants  who  have  skin  diseases  which  run  an 
acute  or  temporary  course,  or  are  trivial  in  character,  or  do  not  interfere  with 
the  general  health,  or  are  not  incapacitating.  Among  the  common  skin  condi- 
tions coming  in  this  category  are:  Acne,  Anomalies  of  Pigmentation,  Scars, 
Condylomata,  Diseases  produced  by  pus  infection,  Eczemas  which  have  not  been 
of  long  duration,  all  forms  of  Naevi  not  producing  great  disfigurement  or 
deformity,  all  forms  of  Pediculosis,  Scabies,  Psoriasis,  all  forms  of  Ring 
Worm,  Warts,  Callosities. 

Syphilis. — Accept  all  registrants  with  syphilitic  lesions  of  the  skin. 

Conditions  of  the  Neck. — Accept  registrants  with  normal  necks,  moderate 
enlargement  of  the  thyroid  with  no  toxic  symptoms.  Accept  with  a  few  pal- 
pable lymph  glands  with  or  without  healed  scars  and  no  sinuses. 

Lungs. — Reject  no  registrants  for  diseases  of  the  lungs,  pleura,  mediastinum, 
and  chest  wall,  except  men  with  tuberculosis  or  other  diseases  of  lungs,  pleura, 
and  mediastinum,  who  are  confined  to  their  beds,  when  verified  histories  establish 
unmistakably  the  existence  and  long  duration  of  diseases. 

Heart  and  Blood-vessels. — Following  specific  instructions  regarding  the  exami- 
nation to  be  made  by  physicians  of  the  Local  Boards,  the  regulations  read  that 
after  this  examination  the  Local  Board  shall  accept  all  registrants  who  come 
within  the  standard  for  unconditional  acceptance,  which  is  as  follows : 

Standard  for  Unconditional  Acceptance. — Subjects  with  apex  impulse  within 
the  left  nipple-line  and  not  below  the  fifth  interspace,  of  normal,  not  heaving 
character,  with  normal  sounds,  free  from  murmurs,  without  pulsation  or  dullness 
above  the  base  of  the  heart,  with  regular  pulse  of  normal  rate,  who  have  no 
unusual  thickening  of  the  arteries  or  evidence  of  high  blood  pressure,  and  who 
show  a  normal  response  to  the  exercise  test,  may  be  unconditionally  accepted. 

Abdomen. — Accept  all  registrants  who  give  a  history  of  abdominal  trouble 
suggesting  a  chronic  appendicitis  or  gall-bladder  disease  and  who  on  examination 
present  no  signs  of  such  diseases. 

Accept  all  registrants  with  small  or  medium  reducible  inguinal,  femoral, 
umbilical,  and  post-operative  hernia. 

Accept  all  registrants  with  abdominal  scars  who  give  a  history  of  operation 
for  hernia,  appendicitis,  gall-bladder  disease,  or  for  some  abdominal  injury, 
providing  there  is  no  large  hernia  in  the  scar. 

94 


GenitO'Urinary  organs  and  venereal  diseases. — Accept  all  cases  with  no  signs 
of  disease  of  the  genito-urinary  organs,  all  acute  and  chronic  cases  of  gonorrhea 
and  syphilis  who  have  no  complications  permanently  incapacitating. 

Lower  Extremities. — Accept  all  foot  and  ankle  lesions  if  they  do  not  interfere 
with  the  wearing  of  an  ordinary  shoe  and  with  walking  and  weight-bearing 
power;  hammer-toe,  hallux  valgus,  bunion,  callosities,  the  different  types  of  flat-, 
club-,  and  claw-foot  are  to  be  accepted  if  they  come  within  the  above 
requirements. 

This  is  amplified  by  a  specific  rule  which  reads:  "And  reject  no  foot  cases." 

Height,  weight,  and  chest  measurements. — Registrants  whose  chest  measure- 
ments do  not  come  within  the  limits  of  the  table  and  who  have  no  disqualifying 
defect  are  referred  to  the  Medical  Advisory  Board. 

Accept  registrants  above  78  inches  in  height  when  exceptionally  well  propor- 
tioned. Refer  all  other  such  cases  to  the  Medical  Advisory  Board.  Reject 
registrants  of  less  than  58  inches  in  height.  Refer  to  the  Medical  Advisory 
Board  registrants  whose  height  is  more  than  58  inches  and  less  than  60. 

Reject  registrants  whose  weight  is  less  than  100  pounds,  unless  it  is  plainly 
due  to  some  recent  illness  and  otherwise  the  registrants  have  no  disqualifying 
defect. 

Registrants  whose  weight  is  more  than  100  pounds  and  less  than  114  pounds 
and  who  have  no  other  disqualifying  defect  are  to  be  referred  to  the  Medical 
Advisory   Board. 

Registrants  under  weight  in  proportion  to  their  height,  unless  it  is  plainly 
due  to  some  temporary  cause,  are  referred  to  the  Medical  Advisory  Board. 
When  this  underweight  can  reasonably  be  explained  and  the  registrant  otherwise 
is  physically  fit,  accept. 

Registrants  with  over-weight  are  to  be  accepted,  unless  the  obesity  interferes 
with  normal  physical  activity.  Refer  all  doubtful  cases  to  the  Medical  Advisory 
Board. 

The  examiner  is  specifically  requested  to  take  the  measurements  "with  the 
greatest  care."     (The  standard  tables  in  use  have  been  given  on  page  46.) 

THE  POSSIBLE  SAVING  IN  MAN-POWER  AND  GAIN  IN 
MILITARY  EFFICIENCY  UNDER  THE 
NEW  REGULATIONS 

Under  these  revised  regulations  a  considerable  proportion  of  men 
will  hereafter  be  accepted  which  under  the  First  Draft  were  uncondi- 
tionally rejected.  Practically  all  the  important  causes  of  rejection 
have  been  sufficiently  modified  to  result  in  a  substantial  increase  in 
the  number  of  men  hereafter  accepted  with  or  without  remediable  de- 
fects. In  view  of  the  fact  that  so  large  a  proportion  of  men  in  the  past 
were  rejected  for  dental  defects  or  deficiencies,  the  following  new  rules 
regarding  dental  requirements  are  of  special  importance: 

Dental  Requirements. — Accept  registrants  who  have  three  serviceable  natural 
masticating  teeth  above  and  three  below  opposing  and  three  serviceable  natural 
incisors  above  and  three  below  opposing.  All  these  teeth  must  be  so  opposed 
as  to  serve  the  purpose  of  incision  and  mastication.  Therefore,  the  registrant 
shall  have  a  minimum  total  of  six  masticating  teeth  and  a  minimum  total  of 
six  incisor  teeth.  The  needed  dental  treatment  will  be  performed  at  the  canton- 
ment. However,  if  time  permits,  a  registrant,  if  he  prefers,  may  have  the 
necessary  work  done  at  home  previous  to  his  induction  into  military  service. 

95 


By  way  of  contrast,  the  former  rule  is  given,  which  reads  as  follows : 

The  person  must  have  at  least  eight  serviceable  natural  masticating  teeth, 
either  bicuspids  or  molars,  four  above  and  four  below,  opposing,  and  six  service- 
able natural  incisors  or  canines,  three  above  and  three  below,  opposing.  These 
teeth  must  be  so  opposed  as  to  serve  the  purposes  of  incision  and  mastication. 
There  must  be  one  molar  above  and  one  below  on  one  side  which  occlude;  the 
remaining  six  opposing  masticating  teeth  may  be  either  bicuspids  or  molars. 

The  practical  significance  of  this  change  is  indicated  by  the  fact 
that  dental  defects  accounted  for  8.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  rejections, 
according  to  the  special  analysis  made  of  10,258  rejections  by  the 
Provost-Marshal  General's  office.  Since  these  rejections  were  made 
by  camp  surgeons,  the  proportion  of  rejections  for  dental  defects  by 
Local  Boards  was  probably  much  higher.  It  is  specifically  stated  in 
the  new  regulations  that  "No  registrants  can  be  rejected  on  account  of 
teeth  defects." 

Finally,  as  regards  the  degree  of  deficiency  for  disqualification,  on 
general  grounds  it  is  said  in  the  regulations  that 

The  standards  for  unconditional  rejection  which  places  the  registrant  in  the 
class  physically  deficient  and  not  physically  qualified  for  military  service  are 
clearly  defined.  When  the  Local  Board  is  in  any  doubt,  the  registrant  should 
be  referred  to  the  Medical  Advisory  Board. 

This  Board  is  governed  by  the  rule  that 

If  the  registrant  is  held  to  be  physically  disqualified  by  the  examining 
physician,  the  Local  Board  shall,  unless  it  decides  by  unanimous  vote  that  the 
disqualification  is  so  obvious  as  to  leave  no  room  for  reasonable  doubt^  send 
the  registrant  before  such  Medical  Advisory  Board  in  the  manner  just  provided. 

This  shows,  in  other  words,  "that  there  must  be  a  unanimous  vote 
of  the  Local  Board  to  disqualify  the  registrant  and  the  disqualifica- 
tion must  be  so  obvious  as  to  leave  no  room  for  reasonable  doubt." 

Even  as  regards  temporary  defects,  it  is  now  provided  that 

Registrants  confined  to  their  homes,  or  hospitals,  or  who  present  themselves 
with  some  temporary  defect  the  result  of  an  acute  disease,  injury,  or  operation, 
or  who  are  waiting  for  operation,  should  be  granted  a  reasonable  delay  for 
completing  the  physical  examination.  All  of  these  cases  should  be  thoroughly 
investigated  by  the  physician  on  the  Local  Board. 

The  foregoing  extracts  from  the  new  official  regulations  make  it 
sufficiently  clear  that  under  the  present  procedure  on  the  part  of  the 
Local  Board  and  the  Medical  Advisory  Board  a  much  larger  propor- 
tion of  registrants  will  be  accepted  for  military  service  than  in  the 
past,  and  that  in  so  far  as  minor  ailments  or  physical  defects  or  defi- 
ciencies are  ascertained  by  the  examination,  they  will  be  remedied,  if 
possible,  or  the  registrant  will  be  placed  in  a  class  of  service  where 
the  defect  or  deficiency  can  not  prove  injurious  to  health  or  life. 
Under  the  new  regulations,  therefore,  the  examinations  will  disclose  a 
much  lesser  degree  of  apparent  physical  deterioration  among  men  of 

96 


the  draft  age  than  heretofore,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  preclude  hereafter 
the  dissemination  of  sensational  and  alarming  assertions  concerning 
the  alleged  physical  decline  of  American  manhood. 

RESULTS  OF  THE  ARMY  REJECTION  EXPERIENCE 

IN  THE  UNITED  KINGDOM 
The  experience  of  the  United  Kingdom  has  been  much  the  same  as 
in  this  country.  At  the  time  of  the  South  African  War  three  out  of 
every  five  men  had  been  originally  rejected  on  the  ground  of  physical 
unfitness  for  active  military  service.  Out  of  679,703  recruits  examined 
between  1893  and  1902  only  424,651,  or  62.5  per  cent.,  were  accepted. 
As  observed  in  a  letter  from  London,  dated  March  5,  1918,  in  the 
Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  of  April  6,  1918,  "An 
army  of  over  a  quarter  of  a  million  had  thus  to  be  cast  aside  because 
it  was  below  the  military  standard  of  the  time.''  If  the  rules  and 
regulations  had  been  in  conformity  to  the  observations  of  Sir  W. 
Aitken,  Examiner  in  Medicine  for  the  Military  Medical  Service,  and 
Pathologist  attached  to  the  Military  Hospitals  during  the  Russian  War, 
and  had  been  adopted  by  Great  Britain  at  the  outset  of  the  present 
war,  a  much  larger  army  would  actually  have  been  available  and 
without  any  serious  risk  whatever  regarding  the  physical  efficiency  of 
the  men  for  active  duty  in  the  field.  The  present  necessity  of  replacing 
the  enormous  loss  of  man-power  in  consequence  of  the  war  is  resulting 
in  the  lowering  of  the  qualifications  for  service:  but  it  is  to  be  appre- 
hended that  many  of  the  rules  and  regulations  are  not  in  strict  con- 
formity to  scientific  principles  of  anthropology  and  medicine.  The 
committee  appointed  by  the  British  Government  in  1903  on  the  Alleged 
Deterioration  of  the  National  Physique  made  a  systematic  investiga- 
tion and  an  admirable  report  in  1904,  the  recommendations  of  which 
were  entirely  disregarded.  The  need  for  an  anthropometric  survey, 
emphasized  at  the  time  and  repeatedly  brought  forward  by  the  Royal 
Anthropological  Institute,  has  been  clearly  recognized  by  those  familiar 
with  the  facts.  The  Conjoint  Board  of  Scientific  Societies  set  up  by 
the  Learned  Societies  and  Corporations  of  Great  Britain  has  recently 
appointed  a  strong  committee  to  prepare  a  plan  for  a  new  survey,  the 
committee  being  of  the  opinion  that  "Such  a  survey  is  a  matter  of 
national  importance  and  one  that  can  be  carried  out  by  machinery 
already  in  existence.  All  that  is  now  necessary  is  to  set  up  an  Advisory 
Council  to  co-ordinate  the  work  carried  on  by  the  varied  Government 
departments  and  bureaus  to  deal  with  the  statistics  as  they  are  col- 
lected." Such  a  survey  is  not  only  required  for  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  but  as  much  if  not  more  so  for  the  United  States.  The  gen- 
eral principles  of  such  a  survey  have  been  brought  forward  in  the 
discussions  of  the  Committee  on  Anthropology  of  the  National  Re- 
search Council,  which,  however,  has  failed  to  secure  the  required 
governmental  support.     The  lamentable  results  of  ignorance  and  indif- 

97 


ference  in  the  medical  and  physical  examination  of  recruits  are  not 
even,  as  yet,  as  clearly  recognized  as  is  necessary  to  prevent  a  further 
deplorable  waste  of  man-power,  both  in  the  unnecessary  rejection  of 
those  fit  for  military  service  in  the  field  and  in  the  wrongful  acceptance 
of  men  physically  or  otherwise  disqualified  for  the  extraordinary  stress 
and  strain  of  service  on  the  battle  field.  The  problem,  it  is  true,  con- 
cerns at  most  but  a  fraction  of  the  entire  army,  for  there  can  be  no 
question  of  doubt  that  the  large  majority  of  our  young  men  are  not 
only  as  physically  fit  but  in  all  probability  physically  superior  to  any 
army  that  has  ever  gone  out  for  active  service  on  the  battle  field.  As 
properly  said  in  the  London  letter  to  the  Journal  of  the  American 
Medical  Association, 

The  victorious  manner  in  which  our  national  armies  *  have  come  through 
conditions  more  severe  and  more  trying  than  any  to  which  armies  of  former 
times  were  ever  subjected  seems  to  allay  any  fear  that  we  are  not  equal 
to  our  forefathers  in  either  vigor  of  body  or  strength  of  will.  But  every 
country  in  Europe  has  its  contingent  of  men  unfit  to  bear  arms  and  unfit  for 
the  physical  brunt  of  civil  life.  Before  the  war  Germany  had  to  reject  16  per 
cent,  of  her  young  men,  because  weakness  or  deformity  rendered  them  useless 
as  soldiers.  We  also  have  our  share  of  the  unfit;  the  size  of  that  share  is  the 
index  of  our  physical  deterioration  as  a  nation.  Under  the  present  conditions 
the  need  for  a  physical  survey  of  the  people,  instead  of  being  merely  a  matter 
of  theoretical  importance,  as  it  was  at  a  former  time,  has  become  a  matter  of 
urgent,  practical  importance.  The  total  number  of  our  population  is  not  the 
most  important  matter  for  us  at  present;  it  is  the  number  of  our  fit  men  and 
women,  boys  and  girls,  that  matters.  The  medical  examinations  instituted  by 
the  Ministry  of  National  Service  really  constitute  a  physical  census  of  our 
man-power. 

URGENCY  OF  A  NATIONAL  ANTHROPOMETRIC  SURVEY 
AND  NEW  PHYSICAL  STANDARDS 
These  conclusions  apply  with  even  greater  force  to  the  men  of  our 
new  National  Army,  which  in  the  cantonments  as  well  as  on  the  western 
front  has  given  an  excellent  account  of  itself  as  regards  physical  endur- 
ance, of  which  the  country  has  every  reason  to  feel  proud.  If  only, 
however,  one-tenth  of  the  entire  Army  represents  a  group  below  the 
ideal  standard  of  physique  and  capacity  for  physical  endurance  in  active 
military  service,  the  question  of  their  proper  physical  care  and  service 
classification  is  one  of  considerable  practical  importance.  If  even  as 
low  a  proportion  as  15  per  cent,  of  all  the  registrants  are  properly 
rejected  on  physical  grounds,  the  question  of  their  rehabilitation  is  of 
equal  if  not  greater  concern  to  the  Government  and  the  people  at  large. 
It  requires  no  sensational  or  alarmist  assertions  to  emphasize  an  obvious 
duty  in  this  respect,  however  lamentably  that  duty  has  been  ignored  in 
the  past.  All  questions  of  physical  growth  and  development,  physical 
training,  military    and    industrial    service    proportionate    to    physical 

•  The  reference,   of  course,   is  to  the   national   armies   of  Great    Britain   and   the   British 
Colonies  and  self-governing  Dominions. 

98 


strength  and  physical  endurance  depend  primarily  for  their  successful 
solution  upon  a  correct  ascertainment  of  physical  standards,  with  a 
due  regard  to  race,  locality,  occupation,  etc.  A  mere  heterogeneous 
mass  of  measurements  and  general-average  conclusions  based  upon 
mere  data  cannot  successfully  meet  the  exacting  requirements  of  the 
present  time ;  nor  can  the  methods  in  use  heretofore  in  connection  with 
the  examination  of  recruits  be  utilized  to  advantage  any  more  than  the 
methods  employed  for  examination  purposes  by  life  insurance  com- 
panies. New  standards  are  required  and  these  must  be  derived  from 
accurate  measurements  of  the  registrants,  if  not  in  the  aggregate,  at 
least  in  selected  groups,  with  a  due  regard  to  race  and  the  regional 
divisions  of  the  country,  and,  if  possible,  the  previous  occupation  of 
the  registrant.  There  is  therefore  an  obvious  urgency  for  a  national 
anthropometric  survey,  in  conformity  to  the  preliminary  recommenda- 
tions of  the  Royal  Anthropological  Society  of  Great  Britain,  of  the  plan 
of  which  a  copy  is  reprinted  in  Appendix  B. 

NEW  STANDARDS  OF  PHYSICAL  EXAMINATION 
New  standards  of  physical  examination  governing  the  entrance  to 
all  branches  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States  for  the  use  of  Medical 
Officers  of  the  Regular  Army,  National  Army,  National  Guard,  Medi- 
cal Reserve  Corps,  Recruiting  Officers  of  the  United  States  Army  and 
Local  Boards  and  Medical  Advisory  Boards  under  the  Selective  Service 
Regulations  were  promulgated  by  the  Secretary  of  War  under  date  of 
June  5,  1918.  These  rules  and  regulations  are  in  a  large  measure  based 
upon  actual  experience  and  qualified  consideration  on  the  part  of  those 
directly  responsible  for  the  best  possible  results.  Of  course,  some  of 
the  rules  are  subject  to  further  modifications,  but,  in  the  main,  the  new 
regulations  will  go  far  to  facilitate  the  fundamental  purpose  of  the 
Selective  Draft,  i.  e.,  "To  procure  men  who  are  physically  fit,  or  who 
can  be  made  so,  for  the  rigors  of  field  service  or  for  special  and  limited 
service,"  but  the  final  determination  of  these  questions  is  left  to  the 
judgment  and  discretion  of  the  examining  boards  appointed  under  the 
authority  of  the  Selective  Service  Law  and  to  the  military  examining 
surgeons  of  mobilization  camps  and  other  army  posts  and  stations. 

The  most  important  qualification,  as  elsewhere  pointed  out,  which 
has  practically  remained  unchanged,  is  that  "Local  Boards  need  not 
make  a  complete  physical  examination  of  every  registrant.  Upon  the 
discovery  of  a  defect  requiring  unconditional  rejection  the  physician 
of  the  Local  Board  need  proceed  no  further;  but  in  all  other  cases 
there  must  be  a  complete  examination."  To  avoid  a  possible  misunder- 
standing, it  requires  to  be  pointed  out  with  special  reference  to  the 
Medical  Advisory  Boards  that  they,  also,  "are  not  required  to  make 
a  complete  examination  of  every  registrant,"  if  "at  any  point  in  the 

99 


course  of  the  examination  it  is  found  that  the  registrant  is  physically 
or  mentally  unfit  within  the  standards  of  unconditional  rejection,  then 
the  examination  need  proceed  no  further."  These  qualifications  or 
restrictions  obviously  preclude  the  general  use  of  the  Selective  Draft 
experience  data  as  evidence  of  the  true  physical  status  or  bodily  condi- 
tion of  the  male  population  of  draft  age.  The  data  require,  therefore, 
to  be  used  in  all  cases  with  extreme  caution,  but  especially  in  their 
application  to  the  most  important  problem  of  available  man-power  for 
military  service. 

The  order  of  procedure  in  the  physical  examination  includes  nine- 
teen subdivisions,  as  follows: 

REQUIRED  ORDER  OF  PROCEDURE  IN  PHYSICAL  EXAMINATIONS 
UNDER  THE  SELECTIVE  DRAFT 


1 

The  eyes 

11 

Abdomen 

2 

The  ears 

12 

Neck 

3 

The  mouth,  nose,  fauces,  pharynx, 

13 

Genito-urinary  organs,  venereal  dis- 

larynx, trachea,  esophagus 

eases 

4 

Dental  requirements 

14 

Mental  and  nervous  diseases 

5 

Skin 

15 

Lungs  and  chest-wall 

6 

Head 

16 

Heart  and  blood-vessels 

7 

Spine 

17 

General 

8 

Scapulae 

18 

Temporary  defects 

9 

Extremities 

19 

Malingering 

10 

Height,  weight  and  chest  meas- 
urement 

It  is  quite  evident  that  this  order  of  arrangement  for  physical  exam- 
ination purposes  is  not  in  conformity  to  a  thoroughly  developed,  sys- 
tematic method  of  procedure,  particularly  with  a  due  regard  to  the 
practical  importance  of  the  ascertainment  of  impairments  requiring 
unconditional  rejection.  Since  a  complete  examination  of  every  regis- 
trant is  not  required,  it  is  of  the  first  importance,  at  least  for  general 
purposes,  that  the  more  serious  pathological  impairments  shall  be  ascer- 
tained first,  or  previously  to  minor  physical  defects,  though  possibly  the 
latter  be  of  even  major  military  importance.  For  to  the  extent  that 
the  medical  results  of  the  Selective  Draft  examinations  can  be  utilized, 
for  illustration,  for  the  purpose  of  determining  incipient  cases  of 
pulmonary  tuberculosis,  this  object  would  be  defeated  by  the  prompt 
rejection  on  primary  examination  of  men  found  to  suffer  from  some 
serious  visual  impairment,  deafness,  dental  defects,  etc.  It  would  not 
seem  going  too  far,  therefore,  to  suggest  that  the  order  of  procedure 
in  the  examination  should  be  so  modified  as  to  materially  increase  the 
assurance  that  the  more  serious  pathological  or  physical  conditions, 
such  as  tuberculosis,  syphilis,  hernia,  etc.,  may  be  first  ascertained  as 
unconditional  causes  of  rejection  rather  than  causes  or  conditions  of 
secondary  general  importance  from  the  point  of  view  of  preventive 
medicine,  public  health,  etc. 

100 


It  is,  however,  quite  difficult  to  establish' a'n  order  of 'procedure  suit- 
able to  other  requirements  than  those  of  the  military  service,  but  even 
for  the  latter  purpose  a  more  systematic  anatomical  and  osteological 
arrangement  would  no  doubt  prove  in  actual  practice  distinctly  more 
useful,  and  possibly  less  time-consuming  than  the  one  provided  for 
under  the  revised  standards  of  examination. 

SUGGESTED  ORDER  OF  PHYSICAL  EXAMINATION 


1 

The  height,  weight  and  chest  meas- 

10 

The  extremities 

urement 

11 

Lungs  and  chest-wall 

2 

The  head 

12 

The  heart  and  blood-vessels 

3 

The  eyes 

13 

The  abdomen 

4 

The  ears 

14 

Genito-urinary  organs  and  venereal 

5 

The  mouth,  nose,  fauces,  pharynx, 

diseases 

larynx,  trachea,  esophagus 

15 

Mental  and  nervous  diseases 

6 

Dental  requirements 

16 

Skin 

7 

Neck 

17 

General 

8 

Scapulae 

18 

Temporary  defects 

9 

Spine 

19 

Malingering 

This  suggested  order  of  examination,  however,  is  merely  a  com- 
promise.   It  fails  particularly  in  the  direction  of  the  obviously  practical 
requirement  that  the  more  serious  physical  impairment  should  be  certain 
of  first  ascertainment,   rather  than  the  minor  physical   defects  and 
deficiencies  which  also  disqualify  for  military  service.     If  this  point 
of  view  were  hereafter  to  prevail,  it  would  probably  be  best  to  examine 
the  lungs  immediately  after  the  chest  measurements  and  to  follow  with 
the  examinations  of  the  heart  and  blood  vessels,  the  abdomen  and  the 
genito-urinary  system.     This  arrangement  would  give  the  preference 
to  the  ascertainment  of   serious  pathological   impairments   over  less 
important  physical  defects,  deformities  and  deficiencies.     If  followed 
more  or  less  in  this  order,  the  bodily  impairments  of  general  public 
importance,  especially  in  connection  with  public  health  activities  and 
preventive  medicine,  would  be  ascertained  with  reasonable  thorough- 
ness according  to  their  relative  significance.    Valid  objections  may,  of 
course,  be  raised  on  practical  grounds  against  a  complete  examination 
in  each  and  every  case,  for,  as  has  well  been  said  by  Major  General 
Crowder,  the  object  of  the  Selective  Draft  examination  is  to  raise  an 
army  and  not  to   furnish  information,  statistical  or  otherwise;  but 
nevertheless  it  might  be  considered  well  worth  while  on  the  part  of 
the  nation  to  subject  each  and  every  registrant  to  a  thorough  physical 
examination  and  to  ascertain  all  the  existing  defects,  deficiencies  and 
impairments,  with  a  view  to  their  subsequent  treatment,  cure  or  cor- 
rection,  rather  than  to  abruptly  conclude  the  examination  with  the 
determination  of  the  first  disqualification  sufficient  for  unconditional 
rejection  for  mihtary  purposes  only. 

101 


The  hew 'staiiiidrcfs' mark '^arf  important  departure  from  those  else- 
where referred  to  in  this  discussion,  in  that  the  minimum  height  is 
raised  to  63  inches  from  61  inches  under  the  standards  adopted  May 
18,  1917  (but  for  recent  change,  see  page  45,  and  for  former  stand- 
ards, see  page  46).  This  change  would,  perhaps,  be  unobjectionable 
with  regard  to  registrants  of  native  ancestry,  but  it  must  be  considered 
unfortunate  with  reference  to  registrants  of  foreign-born  parentage  of 
South-European  racial  origin.  There  can  be  no  question  but  that 
a  considerable  proportion  of.  such  men  will  probably  be  rejected  ex- 
clusively on  the  ground  of  deficiency  in  stature,  but  who  otherwise 
would  in  every  respect  be  qualified  for  military  service  in  the  field. 
If  our  own  physical  standard  were  to  be  rigorously  applied  to  the 
French,  Italian  and  Portuguese  armies  at  the  present  time,  there  un- 
questionably would  be  a  material  reduction  in  man-power  upon  purely 
theoretical  considerations,  which,  considering  the  supreme  necessities 
of  the  war,  might  involve  truly  momentous  consequences.  It  would 
seem  much  more  rational,  therefore,  to  apply  the  recruiting  standards 
of  foreign  armies  to  American  registrants  of  the  same  type  of  foreign 
origins  than  to  make  use  of  a  purely  arbitrary  general  standard  pri- 
marily applicable  to  the  registrants  of  the  continental  United  States, 
of  a  racial  descent  normally  subject  to  a  quite  different  frequency 
distribution  in  height,  such  as  those  of  EngHsh,  Scotch,  Irish,  German 
and  Scandinavian  parentage.  The  loss  in  man-power  on  account  of 
the  rigorous  use  of  this  theoretical  requirement  as  to  minimum  stature 
may  not,  perhaps,  be  so  very  serious  for  this  country,  but  in  any 
event  it  is  seemingly  as  unnecessary  as  it  is  clearly  unscientific. 

The  new  regulations  are  a  notable  contribution  to  a  much-neglected 
branch  of  medicine.  To  an  increasing  extent  medical  examinations  are 
being  made  of  applicants  for  industrial  service,  and  the  practice  of  life 
insurance  has  become  so  universal  that  sooner  or  later  the  larger  por- 
tion of  the  male  population  will  at  one  time  or  another  have  been 
subjected  to  one  or  more  examinations,  though,  of  course,  for  purposes 
somewhat  different  from  those  which  apply  to  the  Army  in  time  of 
war.  All  of  these  examinations,  however,  have  much  in  common,  and 
to  the  extent  that  the  practice  is  made  more  scientifically  conclusive 
as  well  as  generally  useful  the  cause  of  preventive  medicine,  health- 
conservation  and  efftciency  in  man-power  will  be  advanced  to  a  position 
never  heretofore  realized  in  any  country  of  the  world. 

THE  AGE  PERIOD  OF  MILITARY  SERVICE  IN  TIME 

OF  WAR 

The  war  demands  men,  more  men,  and  still  more  men.  The  wastage 

in  modern  battles  is  enormous.     The  tendency  is,  therefore,  to  lower 

the  draft  age  as  a  matter  of  ready  convenience,  rather  than  to  seek 

more  intelligently  for  the  physically  fit  among  those  who  are  within 

102 


the  present  age  period  of  military  conscription.  The  proposed  lowering 
of  the  draft  age  for  the  National  Army  of  the  United  States  would, 
however,  be  a  calamity  the  ultimate  consequences  of  which  might  be 
even  more  serious  than  the  immediate  loss  of  life,  limb  and  health  on 
the  battle  field.  All  the  standard  authorities  on  army  recruiting  who 
have  thoughtfully  and  impartially  considered  the  question  of  age  in  its 
relation  to  military  service  are  strongly  opposed  to  the  inclusion  of 
mere  boys,  or  what  Sir  William  Aitken  has  so  admirably  described  as 
"growing  lads."  If  the  quotas  forthcoming  from  the  present  age 
period  of  the  Selective  Draft,  21  to  31,  are  insufficient  and  if  improved 
and  more  rational  methods  of  medical  examination  or  remedial  physical 
training  are  inadequate,  it  would  in  every  way  be  preferable  to  raise 
the  draft  age  even,  if  necessary,  to  50  and  over,  rather  than  to  lower 
the  age  by  a  single  year  or  two  to  20  or  19.  In  the  words  of  Sir 
William  Aitken  (sustained  by  distinguished  English,  French  and  Amer- 
ican army  authorities),  in  his  treatise  "On  the  Growth  of  the  Recruit 
and  Young  Soldier,"  which  deserves  to  be  much  better  known  in  this 
country  than  there  are  reasons  for  believing  is  actually  the  case : 

It  has  been  fully  demonstrated  that  the  placing  of  "growing  lads"  in  the  field 
who  are  physically  immature  has  not  only  been  poor  economy  but  has  some- 
times been  fatal  to  the  success  of  military  operations.  Such  lads  have  always 
been  found  disqualified  and  unable  to  perform  the  duties  or  to  endure  the 
hardships  incident  to  the  life  of  a  soldier. 

Also,  according  to  the  late  Dr.  Parks  whose  treatise  on  Public 
Hygiene  is  a  standard  work  of  reference  throughout  the  world : 

There  is  no  doubt  that  to  send  young  lads  of  18  to  20  into  the  field  is  not 
only  a  lamentable  waste  of  material,  but  is  positive  cruelty.  At  that  age  such 
soldiers,  as  Napoleon  said,  merely  strew  the  roadsides  and  fill  the  hospitals.  The 
most  effective  armies  have  been  those  in  which  the  youngest  soldiers  have  been 
22  years  of  age. 

These  are  the  words  of  military  wisdom,  based  upon  military  expe- 
rience. They  require  to  be  taken  to  heart  by  those  who  in  very  truth 
have  the  future  physical  welfare  of  the  nation  in  their  keeping.  We 
are,  it  is  said,  in  this  war  to  the  last  man  and  the  last  dollar ;  but  that 
very  policy  precludes  the  ruthless  waste  and  wrongful  sacrifice  of  the 
nation's  boyhood,  unless  the  exigencies  of  the  military  situation  are 
such  as  to  imperatively  demand  the  lowering  of  the  draft  age,  which, 
considering  our  vast  population,  our  healthy  and  resistant  manhood  of 
mature  ages  must  be  considered,  at  this  time,  at  least,  a  remote 
contingency. 


103 


APPENDIX  A 

Kxamination  blank  tentatively  recommended  by  the  Committee  on  Anthropology 
of  the  National  Research  Council 


SMITHSONIAN  INSTITUTION 
United  States  National  Museum 

Name ' Age. 

Occupation  

Born  in  (what  state  or  country) 


Birthplace   (state  or  country)  : 

of   father  ,  of    mother    

of   father's  father ,  of  mother's    father. 

of   father's  mother ,  of  mother's  mother. 


MEASUREMENTS 


Body: 

Weight  

Stature  

Height  to  shoulder  (mean). 
Height  sitting  


Head: 
Deformation   of 

Length  

Breadth    

Height   


Color  of  eyes 

Color  of  hair... 
Nature  of  hair. 
Nose  


Face  : 

Length  to  nasion 

Length   to    crinion 

Breadth,  bizygom  

Miscellaneous  : 

Shoulders: 
Breadth   

Chest: 
Mean  breadth  at  nipple  height. 
Mean  depth  at  nipple  height... 


OBSERVATIONS 
Lips  


Chin 

Body  and  limbs. 


Nasal  septum  Dynamometric  Pressure  j 


f  r.  hand. 


[1.   hand. 


104 


APPENDIX  B 
THE  ROYAL  ANTHROPOLOGICAL  INSTITUTE 

50,  Great  Russell  Street, 

London,  W.  C. 
To  the:  Honorary  Se:cri:tary  of  the 

Board  oiP  Scie:ntific  Studies. 
Dear  Sir: 

PHYSICAL  SURVEY  OF  THE  BRITISH  PEOPLE. 

We  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  letter  of  October  23rd, 
1916,  in  which  you  inform  us  that  the  Board  of  Scientific  Studies  in- 
vites the  Council  of  the  Royal  Anthropological  Institute  to  submit  a 
report  to  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board,  on  the  "Need  of  a 
Physical  Survey  of  the  British  People." 

The  Council  of  the  Institute  has  given  this  matter  its  serious  consid- 
eration from  time  to  time  during  the  last  twelve  years,  and  has  been 
steadfastly  of  opinion  that  such  a  survey  is  necessary. 

We  have  the  honour  to  submit  particulars  of  the  conclusions  arrived 
at  by  the  Council  after  careful  review  of  the  question  in  the  light  of 
present  conditions. 

Considerations  Bearing  on  the  Need  for  a  Survey. 
In  1903  it  was  stated  by  the  Inspector-General  of  Recruiting  that 
in  certain  areas  as  many  as  40  per  cent.,  or  even  60  per  cent.,  of  men 
who  offered  themselves  for  Military  Service  were  rejected  because 
they  were  found  to  be  physically  unfit.  The  occurrence  of  such  a 
large  number  of  unfit  men  in  the  general  population  gave  rise  to  a 
suspicion  that  a  proportion  of  the  British  people  was  undergoing  physi- 
cal deterioration.  Whether  such  was  the  case  or  not  could  not  be 
determined,  however,  since  there  was  no  existing  standard  with  which 
the  measurements  made  could  be  compared.  At  no  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  country  has  any  attempt  been  made  to  obtain  an  accurate 
estimate  of  the  condition  of  bodily  development  amongst  the  people, 
and  there  can  obviously  be  no  basis  for  comparison  until  an  initial  sur- 
vey is  made  of  at  least  a  representative  part  of  the  population.  The 
Council  feels  that  it  is  necessary  to  lay  stress  upon  the  expediency  of 
placing  our  knowledge  of  the  men  of  the  heart  of  the  Empire  on  a 
more  satisfactory  footing. 

Premous  attempts  to  institute  a  Survey. — (1)  In  September;,  1903, 
largely  as  a  result  of  representations  made  by  Fellows  of  this  Insti- 
tute and  members  of  the  Anthropological  Section  of  the  British  Asso- 

105 


ciation,  the  Lord  President  of  the  Council — the  late  Duke  of  Devon- 
shire— appointed  an  Inter-Departmental  Committee  "to  make  a  pre- 
liminary inquiry  into  the  allegations  concerning  the  deterioration  of 
certain  classes  of  the  population."  The  exact  Terms  of  Reference 
were : 

(1)  To  determine,  with  the  aid  of  such  counsel  as  the  medical 
profession  are  able  to  give,  the  steps  that  should  be  taken  to  fur- 
nish the  Government  and  the  nation  at  large  with  periodical  data 
for  an  accurate  comparative  estimate  of  the  health  and  physique  of 
the  people; 

(2)  To  indicate  generally  the  causes  of  such  physical  deteriora- 
tion as  does  exist  in  certain  classes; 

(3)  To  point  out  the  means  by  which  it  can  be  most  effectually 
diminished. 

After  sifting  all  the  available  evidence,  and  examining  a  large  num- 
ber of  witnesses,  the  Committee  issued  a  Report  *  in  the  autumn  of 
1904.  Their  first  and  chief  recommendation  was  the  institution  of 
an  "Anthropometric  Survey,"  the  recommendation  being  couched  in 
the  following  terms : 

"With  a  view  to  the  collection  of  definite  data  bearing  upon 
the  condition  of  the  population,  the  Committee  think  that  a  per- 
manent Anthropometric  Survey  should  be  organized  as  speedily  as 
possible,  upon  the  lines  indicated  in  Part  I  of  this  Report."    (Re- 
port, Part  I,  page  84.) 
The  Committee  were  constrained  to  place  this  proposal  at  the  head 
and  front  of  their  recommendations,  because  they  found  that,  in  the 
absence  of  any  former  standard  for  comparison,  it  was  impossible  to 
determine  whether  any  physical  change  was  occurring  in  the  British 
population  as  a  whole,  or  in  any  particular  section  of  it.     The  follow- 
ing quotation  from  the  Report  (Part  I,  page  92)  indicates  the  views 
of  the  Committee  as  to  the  occurrence  of  deterioration: 

"The  Committee  hope  that  the  facts  and  opinions  they  have 

collected  will  have  some  effect  in  allaying  the  apprehensions  of 

those  who,  as  it  appears  on  insufficient  grounds,  have  made  up 

their  minds  that  progressive  deterioration  is  to  be  found  among 

the   people   generally." 

The  Council  of  the  Royal  Anthropological  Institute  hopes  and  is 

ready  to  believe  that  this  conclusion  was  justified,  but  is  nevertheless 

of  opinion  that  whether  the  physique  of  the  population  is  improving, 

remaining  stationary,  or  deteriorating,  it  is  highly  important  that  the 

nation  should  know  the  true  state  of  affairs,  and  this  can  only  be 

achieved  by  means  of  a  physical  census  of  representative  parts  of  the 

population. 

*  Report  of  the  Inter-Departmental  Committee  on  Physical  Deterioration,  1904. 

106 


In  the  evidence  and  in  the  Recommendations  of  the  Inter-Depart- 
mental Committee,  the  Council  finds  support  for  its  views  as  to  the 
need  for  a  physical  survey. 

(2)  At  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association,  held  at  Cambridge 
in  1904,  a  discussion  took  place  on  the  "Alleged  Physical  Deteriora- 
tion of  the  People."  This  discussion,  with  papers  read  by  the  late 
Professor  D.  J.  Cunningham,  the  late  Mr.  John  Gray,  and  Dr.  F.  C. 
Shrubsall,  was  published  by  the  Royal  Anthropological  Institute  as 
Occasional  Paper  No.  2  (1905),  and  a  copy  is  enclosed  (Enclosure  A). 
The  urgency  of  an  Anthropometric  Survey  was  conceded  by  all,  and 
plans  were  formulated  for  carrying  out  such  a  survey.  Amongst  those 
who  took  part  in  the  discussion  was  Dr.  Ridolfo  Livi,  who  had  been 
entrusted  by  the  Italian  Ministry  of  War  with  the  drawing  up  of  a 
report  upon  measurements  made  on  300,000  conscripts  drawn  from  all 
parts  of  Italy.  Dr.  Livi's  report  gave  Italy  an  initial  basis  on  which 
future  comparisons  may  be  founded,  and  at  the  same  time  threw  a 
flood  of  light  on  the  physical  condition  and  racial  constitution  of  the 
Italian  people. 

Causes  tending  to  produce  physical  changes  in  the  population. — An- 
other reason  for  urging  the  necessity  for  a  survey  is  based  on  theoret- 
ical considerations.  The  conditions  under  which  the  British  people 
now  live  differ  profoundly  from  those  which  prevailed  some  centuries 
ago.  Their  food  has  changed,  their  houses  and  surroundings  are  dif- 
ferent; their  modes  of  life  and  of  livelihood  are  new.  At  present  it 
is  only  possible  to  speculate  as  to  whether  these  altered  conditions  are 
effecting  a  physical  change  amongst  the  mass  of  the  population.  In 
the  course  of  time  a  physical  survey  would  provide  the  means  of 
assessing  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  changes,  if  such  there  are. 

Organisation  and  Scope  of  the  Survey, 
So  far,  only  the  reasons  for  urging  the  institution  of  an  anthropomeit- 
rical  survey  or  physical  census  have  been  put  forward.  The  Council 
ventures  to  assume  that  the  Board  of  Scientific  Studies  will  agree  that 
such  a  survey  is  needed,  and  that  it  will  be  desirous  of  convincing  the 
Government  that  a  survey  ought  to  be  initiated.  The  manner  in  which 
it  could  best  be  carried  out  would  then  have  to  be  determined.  This 
practical  question  has  already  been  investigated,  and  definite  sugges- 
tions put  forward,  both  in  the  Report  of  the  Inter-Departmental  Com- 
mittee and  in  the  papers  contributed  to  the  Discussion  at  Cambridge. 
(See  Report,  Part  I,  page  8.) 

Broadly  speaking,  three  preliminary  problems  have  to  be  solved: 
(1)  The  selection  of  representative  sections  of  the  population. 
(See  below,  "Scope  of  the  Survey.") 

107 


(2)  The  measurements  and  observations  to  be  made.  (See 
below  "Scope  of  the  Survey.") 

(3)  The  organization  required  for  making,  collecting,  analyzing 
and  preserving  the  records. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  consider  the  last  question  first  in  order. 

Use  of  the  Military  Organisation. — The  Council  feels  that  it  is  not 
desirable  to  enter  into  administrative  questions  in  any  great  detail  at 
present,  especially  as  many  of  them  can  only  be  settled  when  the  scheme 
becomes  one  of  practical  politics.  It  may  be  pointed  out,  however, 
that  a  very  great  change  has  come  about  since  the  Inter-Departmental 
Committee  issued  its  Report — a  change  which  makes  a  survey  of  the 
manhood  of  the  people  more  feasible  than  it  ever  was  before.  The 
organization  which  war  has  rendered  compulsory  could  provide  the 
anthropological  data  as  regards  the  chief  constituents  of  the  popula- 
tion, without  detriment  to  military  service;  nay,  an  accurate  survey 
should  be  of  military  advantage.  It  is  probable  that  during  the  assem- 
blage of  the  present  armed  forces  of  the  country,  statistics  relating  to 
the  physical  condition  of  the  nation's  manhood  have  been  accumulated, 
but  in  view  of  the  hurried  conditions  under  which  recruiting  had  to 
be  carried  on,  and  the  diverse  methods  employed  by  medical  officers 
at  the  time,  it  is  unlikely  that  such  statistics  could  serve  as  a  standard 
basis.  Were,  however,  some  kind  of  compulsory  service  to  remain  in 
force,  and  were  medical  officers,  trained  in  a  uniform  system  of  ob- 
servation, placed  in  charge  of  the  examination  of  recruits  in  selected 
areas  of  the  country,  there  could  be  obtained  through  the  Army  organ- 
ization such  data  as  are  required  for  an  anthropometrical  survey. 

Use  of  medical  examination- in  schools. — The  organization  for  the 
collection  of  data  relating  to  school  children  is  already  more  than 
foreshadowed.  To  make  the  existing  arrangements  effective  for  the 
purposes  of  a  survey,  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  medical  officers  to 
be  trained  systematically  in  the  employment  of  uniform  methods  of 
measurement  and  record. 

The  Central  Organization. — A  very  important  and  also  very  diffi- 
cult matter  is  the  constitution  of  a  central  body,  to  be  responsible  for 
the  manner  in  which  the  survey  is  carried  out,  for  the  determination 
of  its  scope,  and  for  the  collection,  systematization  and  publication  of 
the  records.  The  Inter-Departmental  Committee  recommended  the 
adoption  of  a  scheme  which  was  formulated  by  Professor  D.  J.  Cun- 
ningham (Report,  Part  I,  p.  8).  In  that  scheme  it  was  proposed  that 
there  should  be : 

(1)  A  Consultative  Committee,  consisting  of  three  leading  an- 
thropologists, the  appointments  to  be  honorary  and  unsalaried^ 
They  were  to  be  advisers,  but  their  powers  were  not  defined. 

108 


(2)  A  Central  Bureau,  under  the  control  of  a  paid  Director, 
with  a  staff  of  assistants,  including  a  statistical  department. 

(3)  A  staff  of  trained  "surveyors"  or  "measurers."  It  was 
also  proposed  to  train  teachers  as  surveyors,  paying  them  a  gratu- 
ity for  their  services. 

Estimates  were  given  of  the  cost  of  such  a  staff,  varying  from  £4,000 
to  £10,000  per  annum. 

It  was  apparently  intended  by  the  Inter-Departmental  Committee 
that  the  anthropometric  survey  should  be  affiliated  to  the  Local  Gov- 
ernment Board. 

If  the  Council  is  right  in  its  anticipation  that  some  form  of  general 
military  service  will  be  maintained  throughout  the  country,  then  it  is 
clear  that  the  recommendations  which  were  valid  for  the  conditions 
of  1904  do  not  apply  to  those  which  are  likely  to  prevail  in  coming 
years.  If,  however,  there  is  a  reversion  to  pre-war  conditions,  then 
the  scheme  proposed  by  the  Inter-Departmental  Committee,  or  a  mod- 
ification of  that  scheme,  would  have  to  be  considered. 

In  the  event  of  its  being  decided  that  the  manhood  of  the  nation  is 
in  future  to  be  registered  and  medically  examined  for  military  ser- 
vice, it  is  clearly  through  the  Ministry  for  War  that  a  physical  census 
of  the  adult  males  would  have  to  be  carried  out.  It  is  equally  clear 
that  in  any  case  a  survey  of  the  school  children  would  be  made  through 
the  Ministry  of  Education.  Neither  of  these  Departments  of  State 
would  be  likely  to  allow  a  central  bureau,  such  as  is  mentioned  above, 
to  use  their  officers  to  carry  out  an  anthropometrical  survey.  Each 
Department  would,  no  doubt,  set  up  its  own  organization,  not  only 
for  the  collection  of  data,  but  also  for  its  treatment  and  publication.  It 
would  probably,  however,  be  possible  to  co-ordinate  the  work  by 
setting  up  a  small'Advisory  Board,  with  powers  to  advise  the  respon- 
sible Ministers  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  survey  should  be  carried 
out,  and  to  recommend,  from  time  to  time,  such  changes  as  might  be 
necessary.  On  such  a  board  there  would  need  to  be  two  or  three 
skilled  anthropologists,  a  statistician,  and  a  representative  from  the 
Admiralty,  the  War  Office,  the  Board  of  Education,  the  Local  Gov- 
ernment Board,  and  the  National  Health  Insurance  Committee,  re- 
spectively. 

Scope  of  the  Survey. — The  Council  feels  that  it  is  at  present  only 
possible  to  touch  upon  the  two  other  main  questions  that  will  have 
to  be  considered,  since  they  are  clearly  matters  which  must  be  finally 
settled  by  the  Advisory  Board.     These  questions  are : 

(1)  The  selection  of  sections  of  the  population  for  examina- 
tion, and  the  proportion  which  these  sections  must  bear  to  the 
population  as  a  whole;  and 

109 


(2)  The  number  and  the  nature  of  the  observations  to  be  made 
on  each  individual  examined. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  first  of  these  questions  is  a  matter  for  statis- 
ticians rather  than  for  anthropologists,  and  it  may  therefore  be  left 
on  one  side. 

As  regards  the  observations  to  be  made,  it  is  clear  that  they  must 
be  as  few  in  number  as  is  compatible  with  the  end  in  view,  and  that 
all  of  them  must  deal  with  characters  which  are  capable  of  exact  meas- 
urement. The  Council  would  recommend  the  following  list,  which 
is  essentially  that  selected  by  Professor  Cunningham  (see  Report,  Part 
I,  page  9).     This  includes: 

(1)  Stature. 

(2)  Sitting  height. 

(3)  Chest  girth   (maximum  and  minimum). 

(4)  Weight. 

(5)  Head  (length,  width,  height). 

(6)  Breadth  of  shoulders. 

(7)  Breadth  of  hips. 

(8)  Vision  tested  by  Snellen's  type. 

(9)  Colour  vision. 

(10)     Degree  of  pigmentation. 

Evidence  to  be  obtained  from  ancient  interments. — There  are  already 
grounds  for  supposing  that,  in  comparatively  recent  centuries,  a  defi- 
nite change  has  occurred  in  the  physical  constitution  of  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  British  people.  A  past  President  of  the  Royal  Anthropo- 
logical Institute,  Dr.  Arthur  Keith,  has  instituted  an  elaborate  com- 
parison between  the  teeth,  jaws,  and  facial  skeleton  of  50  men  and 
women  who  lived  in  England  prior  to  the  Normaft  Conquest,  and  of 
50  men  and  women  of  the  18th  Century,  and  has  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  the  differences  between  them  are  such  as  cannot  be  accounted 
for  by  a  difference  in  racial  constitution.  In  the  last  thousand  years 
the  facial  parts  of  the  English  people  have  altered.  The  Council  men- 
tions this  circumstance  because  it  points  to  another  source  of  evidence 
supplementary  to  that  to  be  derived  from  an  anthropometrical  survey. 
In  every  district  throughout  the  country  ancient  burials  are  from  time 
to  time  discovered.  In  a  great  number  of  cases  it  is  possible,  with  ex- 
pert advice,  to  determine  approximately  the  period  at  which  these  in- 
terments were  made,  and  the  human  remains  will  then  provide  ac- 
curate data  relating  to  the  physical  condition  of  the  people  of  the 
period.  At  present,  the  bones  are  in  most  cases  neglected  and  cast 
away,  valuable  records  being  thus  lost  for  all  time.  In  the  opinion  of 
the  Council,  it  should  be  compulsory  for  any  one  making  a  discovery 
of  human  remains  in  an  ancient  burial  to  report  that  discovery  to  the 

110 


Coroner  of  the  district,  or  to  a  corresponding  officer,  and  such,  officer 
should  be  under  instructions  to  see  that  the  remains  are  preserved  and 
examined,  a  report  being  forwarded  to  a  central  bureau.  If  this  were 
done  over  a  period  of  years  a  basis  would  be  provided  on  which  to 
found  definite  conclusions  as  to  changes  affecting  the  physical  constitu- 
tion of  the  people  during  recent  centuries. 

The  Effects  of  the  War  on  the  Population. 
There  is  another  anthropological  matter  which  will  require  inves- 
tigation when  the  war  is  over,  but  it  is  one  which  must  be  regarded  as 
totally  distinct  from  an  anthropometrical  survey.  It  will  be  necessary 
to  ascertain  how  the  mortality  of  the  war  has  affected  the  manhood  of 
the  nation;  the  distribution  of  the  loss  in  its  relation  to  counties  and 
cities;  the  percentage  of  loss  as  affecting  various  classes  of  the  com- 
munity, and  particularly  how  far  the  losses  have  affected  the  persistence 
of  family  strains.  Such  an  enquiry  would  fall  most  naturally  on  the 
Local  Government  Board,  or  on  the  Ministry  of  Health,  were  such  a 
Ministry  established. 

Fate  of  the  Recommendations  of  the  Inter-Departmental  Committee. 
In  conclusion,  the  Council  thinks  it  may  interest  the  Board  of  Scien- 
tific Studies  to  know  the  fate  of  the  Recommendations  issued  by  the 
Inter-Departmental  Committee  in  1904.  In  order  that  these  recom- 
mendations might  not  be  shelved  and  forgotten,  the  Royal  Anthro- 
pological Institute  organized  in  June,  1905,  a  powerful  deputation  to 
wait  on  Lord  Londonderry,  then  Lord  President  of  the  Council.  The 
deputation  urged  on  him  the  need  of  carrying  out  the  steps  recom- 
mended by  the  Committee.  A  discussion  followed  in  the  House  of 
Lords  (July  20th,  1905).  Lord  Londonderry,  replying  on  behalf  of 
the  Government,  whilst  approving  of  an  Anthropometrical  Survey,  ap- 
peared to  think  that  there  would  be  a  difficulty  in  carrying  it  out 
because  parents  might  object  to  their  children  being  measured.  In 
short,  the  labours  of  the  Inter-Departmental  Committee,  and  the  en- 
deavours of  a  generation  of  anthropologists,  were  cast  aside  because 
the  Government  of  the  day  feared  to  face  the  prejudice  and  ignorance 
of  a  small  part  of  the  population. 
We  are,  dear  Sir, 

Your  obedient  Servants, 

(Signed)     H.  S.  HARRISON, 
T.  A.  JOYCE, 
Hon.  Secretaries  of  the  Royal  Anthropological  Institute. 
January,  1917. 


Ill 


APPENDIX  C 

Graduated  Numbers  of  the  Male  Population  of  the  Continental  United 

States,  Ages  18-49,  by  Single  Years  of  Life  and  Conjugal 

Condition,  Estimated  for  the  Year  1918 


Ages 

Total 

Single 

Married 

Wido 

Divorced 

18 

1,065,265 

1,072,646 

18,208 

300 

19 

1,056,291 

1,005,700 

61,198 

808 

20 

1,050,095 

931,707 

109,245 

2,325 

21 

1,046,598 

849,661 

166,397 

3,842 

22 

1,040,202 

766,104 

237,709 

5,658 

23 

1,031,708 

685,568 

322,678 

7,477 

24 

1,021,315 

610,568 

396,014 

9,296 

25 

1,007,924 

543,622 

453,671 

11,216 

26 

990,236 

477,179 

502,730 

12,732 

27 

970,849 

416,273 

541,674 

14,247 

28 

949,763 

363,925 

571,514 

15,662 

29 

927,278 

318,623 

593,768 

16,874 

30 

902,994 

280,871 

608,435 

18,087 

31 

876,712 

248,153 

616,021 

18,895 

32 

851,229 

219,966 

616,527 

19,704 

33 

816,452 

196,811 

611,469 

20,512 

34 

802,662 

176,677 

603,883 

21,421 

35 

779,577 

160,570 

597,814 

22,230 

36 

768,285 

148,993 

596,296 

23,341 

37 

756,093 

141,442 

595,265 

24,655 

38 

743,102 

135,905 

592,756 

26,171 

39 

729,011 

129,865 

586,181 

27,787 

40 

714,121 

121,812 

571,514 

30,718 

41 

679,544 

112,248 

551,789 

32,940 

42 

645,667 

101,677 

521,949 

35,467 

43 

612,789 

89,597 

487,051 

38,195 

44 

580,810 

79,027 

457,717 

41,226 

45 

549,631 

70,973 

435,969 

44,561 

46 

543,833 

63,926 

420,796 

48,198 

47 

538,938 

57,382 

413,715' 

52,038 

48 

534,941 

52,349 

408,658 

56,282 

49 

531,643 

48,825 

404,612 

60,829 

Note. — The  actual  age  returns,  by  single  years  of  life,  according  to  the  Census, 
include  numerous  inaccuracies  in  matters  of  minor  detail.  It  has  therefore  seemed 
advisable  to  graduate  the  data  in  conformity  to  standardized  methods  of  sta- 
tistical practice.  The  combined  totals  for  the  three  groups,  by  conjugal  condi- 
tion, varies  slightly  from  the  estimated  graduated  total,  but  the  differences 
are  relatively  unimportant.  The  estimates  are,  of  course,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  effect  of  the  first  and  second  selective  drafts,  and  the  mortality  of 
the  American  forces  at  home  and  abroad  since  the  outbreak  of  the  war. 

112 


APPENDIX  D 

Two  Letters  on  Unnecessary  Rejections  on  Account  of  Deficiency 
in  Stature  (New  York  Sun). 

To  THE  Editor  of  The  Sun — Sir:  Evidence  is  not  lacking  that  the 
miHtary-service  rule  requiring  a  height  of  63  inches  on  the  part  of 
applicants  for  admission  is  depriving  Uncle  Sam  of  the  fighting 
ability  of  thousands  of  young  men  who  are  eager  to  go  to  the  front 
and  help  the  good  cause. 

Why  is  it  that  the  military  authorities  at  Washington  continue  to 
bewail  a  shortage  of  men  of  draft  age  for  active  service  and  threaten 
to  change  the  limit  of  the  draft  age  from  31  to  40  years,  when  there 
are  thousands  of  young  men  of  draft  age,  fine  specimens  of  manhood 
physically,  mentally  and  morally,  courageous  and  fearless,  all  anxious 
to  do  their  bit,  and  do  it  with  a  vim? 

With  every  branch  of  the  service  urging  early  enlistment,  with 
boys  in  the  colleges  enrolled  for  service  just  as  soon  as  the  emergency 
arises,  why,  with  all  this,  is  a  man  of  sound  mind  and  healthy  body 
refused  for  the  National  Army  because  he  happens  to  be  less  than 
half  an  inch  below  the  required  height  of  5  feet  3  inches? 

Take  my  case  as  an  example : 

I  am  a  young  man,  31  years  of  age,  a  graduate  of  the  College  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  post-graduate  student  at  New  York  University, 
former  athletic  director  of  playgrounds,  former  principal  of  vacation 
playgrounds,  a  man  who  has  devoted  fourteen  years  to  athletic 
pastimes,  and  has  made  a  close  study  of  athletic  conditions  and 
methods. 

In  addition,  I  also  have  had  considerable  military  training  both  as  a 
member  of  a  cadet  corps  and  a  member  of  the  Newspaper  Men's 
Officers'  Training  Corps.  I  was  one  of  the  organizers  of  the  latter. 
I  passed  my  physical  and  mental  tests  for  the  First  Officers'  Training 
camp  at  Plattsbufg,  except  as  to  height,  and  although  recommended 
for  admission,  was  rejected  because  I  lacked  the  required  height.  I 
tried  to  gain  admission  to  the  Second  Officers'  Training  camp,  but 
again  was  turned  down  because  I  was  too  short. 

With  two  of  my  brothers  in  the  service,  one  a  first  lieutenant  in 
the  infantry,  A.  E.  F.,  and  the  other  in  the  balloon  photographic 
observation  section  of  the  Signal  Corps,  I  was  determined  to  try  again 
to  enter  the  active  service.  I  applied  for  admission  to  the  Marine 
Corps,  but  was  informed  by  Lieutenant  Gardner  that  the  corps  would 
be  glad  to  have  me  because  of  my  special  training  and  experience,  but 
that  I  was  far  too  short  for  that  branch  of  the  service. 

I  then  applied  at  one  of  the  recruiting  stations  of  the  Regular 
Army  and  heard  the  same  words  repeated.  That  application  was 
filed  before  the*  height  regulations  were  reduced  last  July,  and  I 
finally  decided  to  wait  until  called  into  the  service  through  the  draft. 

113 


Now  for  the  real  blow.  After  being  placed  in  Class  lA  and  waiting 
patiently  for  my  call,  I  was  informed  by  my  local  board  last  week 
that  the  new  army  regulations  forbade  my  induction  into  active 
service  because  I  was  only  62^  inches,  or  5  feet  2J/4  inches  in  height. 
That  I  was  informed  is  half  an  inch  below  the  required  height.  My 
case  was  appealed  to  the  Medical  Advisory  Board,  where  I  was 
informed  that  I  am  62^  inches  in  height,  still  short  of  the  required 
minimum. 

At  that,  I  was  given  to  understand  I  would  be  accepted  for  active 
work,  yet  today  the  local  board  chairman  told  me  I  probably  would 
never  see  active  service,  as  the  requirements  will  not  permit  induction 
into  any  other  but  special  service.  I  was  told  a  definite  decision  has 
not  yet  been  reached  in  my  case,  but  that  it  was  useless  for  me  to  build 
any  hopes  of  being  accepted. 

This,  mind  you,  despite  the  fact  that  I  am  as  healthy,  strong  and 
vigorous  as  when  I  taught  physical  training  to  the  boys  of  the  south 
section  of  Brooklyn,  where  I  was  stationed  by  the  Board  of  Education 
for  four  years.  As  there  are  plenty  of  sickly  fellows  ready  to  do 
clerical  duty,  why  is  it  necessary  to  pick  upon  a  healthy  chap,  fit  for 
the  real  kind  of  war  work?  F. 

New  York,  July  20. 


To  THE  Editor  of  The  Sun — Sir:  Regarding  the  letter  on  the 
editorial  page  of  The  Sun  of  July  21  signed  "F,"  and  dated  July  20,  I 
beg  to  inform  you  that  on  Friday,  July  19,  all  local  boards  in  New 
York  City  were  notified  by  telegram  that  the  minimum  height  require- 
ment had  again  been  reduced  to  sixty  inches  and  the  minimum  weight 
requirement  to  110  pounds,  the  amendment  being  available  for  all 
classes. 

The  minimum  height  requirement  was  sixty  inches  up  to  June  5, 
1918,  when  it  was  raised  to  sixty-three  inches,  and  the  minimum 
weight  from  100  to  116  pounds.  The  latest  change  in  physical  require- 
ments restores  the  minimum  height  to  what  it  was  June  5. 

I  venture  to  predict  that  if  the  only  ground  of  rejection  of  your 
correspondent  was  his  height,  he  will  be  inducted  into  mihtary  service 
of  the  United  States  very  soon.  Martin  Conboy, 

Director  of  the  Draft  for  the  City  of  New  York. 


New  York,  July  23. 


114 


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